C+4
Maelstrom watched Alastair walk into the cave. She realized she had forgotten to show him the cats. Maybe that would be useful. It was harder to remember what to focus on. No, that wasn¡¯t it. She could still focus, just felt the lethargy in making decisions and acting on them, but switching to other focus areas was difficult.
Alastair didn¡¯t seem to have rage issues. That infuriated her greatly. If she was confident that she could win and still figure out a way of this simulation, she would probably kill him out of spite. But he had jumped up in levels and even with weaker equipment he could make good combat decisions and leave her a day behind. Plus she¡¯d lose whatever simple trust he had given her this morning.
Maelstrom sat on a somewhat shaded rock, thinking through the situation. Today felt so much worse than yesterday, almost as if there had been a drastic rise in the effect of the exhaustion. Each player must have experienced similar effects unless they found ways to counter the daily rise in rage. Mal had never asked any of the other players.
The point remained, she had expected that this playtest would be over after a week of game time, but to her best guess it had been closer to ten days. But there was no end in sight. Maybe other servers had already finished the game.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
She knew, at least highly expected, that she had been to every place on this island, and therefore was able to identify glitches and bugs throughout. Or at least inconsistencies. That countered, right? For the $25,000 prize on each server. That amount, even if seemingly frivolous based on the inflation caused by rampant corporate greed, was enough to pay off a good part of her debt. She¡¯d be close to out of the hole for a day of real-world time. But that tradeoff was becoming a worse trade-off with every passing game day.
Part of her considered that maybe there would even be longer-term consequences from exceeding the time stuck in the game. It¡¯s not like she hadn¡¯t spent hours in games before, but there was a difference when those hours were dilated to days.
This wasn¡¯t the first time she considered that her efforts in this game had been misinformed. Perhaps if she had realized that there were less competent players along the way, she might have tried to help them along the way rather than trip them up at the beginning. But she couldn¡¯t have expected the difficulty level to rise so exceedingly, or whatever it was that was preventing the other players from moving forward.
She felt relieved that Nova had trusted her. She was a bit surprised it was him that made it to the Bay first. He had been a weakling every time that she had seen him. His wife, though, had at least the resolve to see something through. Mal knew that it wasn¡¯t Nova that set them on separate paths - except maybe through his cowardice. Maybe Flor would join them along the way. It was something Mal would have to encourage along with pushing Nova through the paces to get ready for an assault on the keep.
Mal really hoped that would be the end of this simulation.
Intermission 2 – Proposed Solutions
13:53 GMT. Near Vilnius. {Which hasn¡¯t moved from Lithuania.}
The data showed that test server 03 was likely to be completed in the next seven or eight minutes, which would have them done about 45 minutes earlier than expected. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but perhaps the data from test server 08 would skew the data significantly in the other direction unless the standard was modified to identify the number of characters versus the challenge. Sung made a note to figure out how best to summarize that data when she compiled the alpha test report.
She jumped when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned quickly to see Mica standing beside her.
Mica said, ¡°I also get tunnel vision when I deal with unusual circumstances. Any big changes?¡±
Sung shook her head. ¡°No. Enough of a no that I had switched over to see the status of server three, which should wrap up any minute now.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve informed Wambli {the Solar Cell COO} of the situation.¡±
¡°Did we get any additional steering orders?¡±
¡°We¡¯re to monitor and report the status every half hour. We should have initial and follow-on directions from the Executive level by 15:00. I¡¯m here now to get your take on the situation and to let you know that I¡¯ll be monitoring from my office,¡± said Mica.
¡°Well, one unusual thing to note is that the couple that started in the city separated. The logs show that they played side-by-side through completing the city, but they¡¯ve now gone separate ways. It looks like one of them is going north and the other is going east, so maybe they¡¯ve decided they can accomplish the easier challenges solo and then join back up. I won¡¯t know until I get the post-analysis logs.¡±
¡°Maybe that counts as progress. One question that Wambli asked that I don¡¯t know the answer to is specifically regarding these rollover servers. Shouldn¡¯t the test include a set of automatons with which the players can party?¡±
¡°You mean, like ghost players that would work roughly independently alongside the actual players?¡± asked Sung. ¡°We didn¡¯t allocate resources to that. The alpha was the first composite run of the challenge, so we don¡¯t have many good examples of non-aggregate play.¡±
¡°Would it break your test to add the non-aggregates?¡±
¡°Statistically, no. Or probably no.¡±
¡°But possible.¡±
Mica must have known the insult when recommending a course of action that might affect the numbers or the playtest. Sung considered that running a test that resulted in the possibly permanent mental and physical handicapping of players would be a worse news story than the timeline derailment.
¡°I¡¯m not even sure if we could add and activate the code while the code is running. That would be akin to adding an update during an update, for lack of a better way to describe it.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve done it in the past. Live patching. I know we could implement it, technically, so don¡¯t be concerned about that aspect.¡±
Sung thought about the problem at hand. It wasn¡¯t altogether different from the other recommendations. But maybe live patching would benefit the server 8 players enough to get to the exit threshold. She considered the normal curve of the other test servers, even in completing their challenges early. An idea formed, slowly. ¡°What if, instead of adding the non-aggregate data, we took summary data from the other playtests and used that as the ghost data? It would get them across the finish line, and if the curve is skewed as expected, they could get the boon they need to meet exit criteria, maybe not on time, but at least well within the normal allocated time. Minus any play time they had before the alpha test, that is.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Mica smiled at her. ¡°I¡¯ll run it up to Wambli. You get your team to get the ghost additions ready to patch in. If we get approval, we¡¯ll attempt to patch live in an hour,¡± she looked at her watch, ¡°roughly at 15:05, but starting at the day reset.¡± She rested her hand on Sung¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°This is unusual. But you¡¯re doing well in such a stressful situation. You¡¯ll get through this.¡±
Sung sent out a system note to the other alpha members to come online. Then she texted Anna.
Sung->Anna: Still in a bind. Be busy for a bit.
One by one her team popped up on her screen. Eventually, they were all there, except for Devin and Brett. Brett wasn¡¯t vital, and Sung was a bit happy that Devin wasn¡¯t there either.
¡°What are we doing now?¡± said Paco.
¡°COO is considering doing a live patch to help out the players in server 8. We need a patch ready in less than an hour.¡±
George said, ¡°Live patch the alpha? Just shut it down. It¡¯s the same risk, right?¡±
¡°I know you missed most of the discussion and are probably still getting caught up, George, but there might be residual damage to the actual players if they get cut from the system mid-stream. It¡¯s not something we¡¯re going to risk. A live patch gives them a better than fighting chance to meet the exit criteria within a reasonable time frame,¡± said Sung.
¡°So what goes into this patch?¡± said Liliya.
¡°Take a statistical average of test servers numbers 1 to 6. We need fifty-four ghosts spread throughout the starting locations with the internal objective of completing the keep.¡±
¡°Fifty-four? Shouldn¡¯t it be fifty-five?¡± said Liliya.
¡°I¡¯ve already got one in mind - I¡¯m going to inject Fausta into the simulation at the next overnight with orders to head to the Keep.¡±
¡°Fausta the AI? What? Why?¡± said Liliya.
¡°We need to try to save the player in the Tower, and I can¡¯t think of another way to get there?¡±
¡°Should the other ghosts also start with any boons?¡± said Liliya.
¡°In a sense, this is akin to an extraction, so supercharge them. Match them to the max player level that is currently on server 8. Which is Brawler 3 with six health. Plan to run the ghost spread on an isolated server in thirty minutes, give or take five minutes. Any other questions?¡±
Paco said, ¡°Uh, boss? This is a PvP server instance. How do we prevent the ghosts from attacking the other players, if they did statistically in the other servers?¡±
Sung thought. ¡°I have no idea. I¡¯ll look up those instances and hopefully, it¡¯s not an overwhelming issue. But, great point. If any of you come up with other vital questions, I¡¯ll be here online. It¡¯s crunch time - to do great work!¡± Sung kept the channel open while the others went out to figure out their new task.
We can do this! We¡¯ll rescue these nine players!
Brett ran a hand along the server rack, lovingly. The cold metal warmed his heart in a manner that no person had ever done. Server three hummed along quietly, just now finishing the test and almost ready for the standard reboot. The server radiated a warm yellow light. It had taken Brett a long time to realize that other people couldn¡¯t see auras from electronics. He eventually realized he was seeing outside the human visual range, but only just. And that gave him an edge when troubleshooting equipment.
He turned from server three and looked at the rack running test eight. A blackness radiated from the server.
Brett knew, inherently, that he didn¡¯t understand the connection between servers and the human participants using the equipment. He knew, also, that the leadership considered the lives of those participants over the health of the servers. At least, they did so where money was involved. But they couldn¡¯t see those participants, locked away in whatever home they had to play the game, the way he could see the server and know its health.
Server eight was not healthy. Oh, it was capable of chugging along, but the data running on it was ugly and needed to be removed. And soon, before the blackness infected his other servers.
He just had to convince the leadership that nine lives were a small price to pay compared to the server farm.
Map - Sheljour Isles
This commentary is so that I can post the map. It has no bearing on the story. I created this map in Wonderdraft. It took me a minute, mostly because I haven''t used Wonderdraft before. Once I figured it out, it wasn''t so arduous.
By now, you''ve visited all the places in the story ¡ª kind of. Alistair went to Inflection Point but hasn''t been inside.
West Shilgrave is there in the middle bottom left. When Flor and Alistair first left the city as part of a search party, they traveled through the woods and up toward the Keep before they abandoned the party and ended up close to the Farms.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
I decided to remove the scale, but estimate that each hexagon line is somewhere around ten kilometers. Probably less, but I don''t know how much less.
Chapter 17 – From the South…, part 1 (of 4)
C+5
Your rage has increased by +1.
Flor felt the rage upon waking. She expected that the time spent at the temple with Amets helped, both with her awareness of the rage and dealing with its effects. That didn¡¯t mean she was happy with it.
Maybe it helped, her time with Amets, but this game still sucked.
Flor wanted to be done with this game. Her anger had cooled to seething. She considered how awful they were, her seething and the game. She still developed a plan to get free.
Nikolette had told Flor what Flor already knew. The way to beat the game was to beat the next castle. That meant the Keep.
Last night, before falling asleep on her hard plank in the Brawler¡¯s Rest, Flor looked at her situation. Somewhere along the way she had upgraded her interface. Kester told her it had been through ¡°his¡± petting of cats. Flor almost thought she could hear his name again. Not this morning, though; This morning, she was on the edge of annoyance, regret, and longing. Regardless, she was still in a party with him, Sparks, and Galoots.
There was still no chatter on the party chat. Flor wasn¡¯t ignorant enough to think that meant there wasn¡¯t chatter from person to person.
Flor had not maxed her equipment, but she was close. The armor was the holdup. It was challenging to earn enough money in a day to buy the plated leather chest armor, let alone a level-three weapon.
Flor had fallen asleep converting loot to timepieces. She still could make a few more and would use them to get at least one level-three gear before she went to the Mayor¡¯s Manor to convince him that she wanted, nay needed, to be part of the procession to the keep tonight.
She considered her options. Was it required to send a note that she would join them? Did she ever know if the procession continued after clearing the city puzzle? She certainly hadn¡¯t looked.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Did that mean she needed to ask them to go on a journey? That complicated her situation terribly.
Lord 3 Oliver Guillem Francesc sat respectfully in his chair, looking at Flor.
He leaned forward and said, ¡°Are you sure? It no longer seems to be a requirement that we need to engage the Lord to solve our problems.¡±
¡°I¡¯m certain I don¡¯t understand the current dynamics of your relationship to the¡Lord. But I understand power dynamics and the economics that underlie them. Yesterday you were required to send children to the ¡Lord¡ for purposes. That purpose didn¡¯t disappear. Rather, it did locally, but not globally. The thuggery from the keep will persist, or increase. The demand for sacrifices will also go up. Where will they come from if not from this city? The farms? There aren¡¯t enough children there. So, what you¡¯ll see is increased boat traffic. It¡¯ll seem legitimate, but it¡¯ll come from offshore, and there will be hints that it is human smuggling.
¡°Instead, you could be a bastion of human rights. You could stand up for what is right and good, and maybe even provide an argument that the Iciounda Kingdom exceeds its mandates.¡±
¡°You ask for blasphemy and sacrilege?¡±
¡°No, I ask you to respect the human condition, to respect that some are born in situations they are unable to control but should not be brutalized or sacrificed while they hold the power within them of production.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not convinced.¡±
Flor considered the economic studies she had conducted in multiple cities. Facts and figures ran through her head but nothing came to mind to convince this lord that those figures would benefit the people of Shilgrave. The terrible inconsistencies in style and gameplay told her that real-world experience did not influence this game. Flor felt disappointed.
¡°My lord, there is evil going on at the keep. You must be the one to stop it. If not you, then allow me at least to convince those in your household to fight it with me.¡±
¡°How do you know?¡± said Lord Oliver.
¡°Because every day I wake up in the same place in the same circumstances and every day the children suffer. They used to come through your manor, but though they don¡¯t anymore, they still end up at the keep and suffer there.¡±
¡°Then I will allow you to try to convince the others in my household to attend to the Keep,¡± he said. ¡°Perhaps you may find that my wife Rosa and my brother Lazare may desire to attend, as they always did enjoy the gala proceedings.¡±
Flor curtsied as she had been instructed to do, ¡°My Lord.¡± She backed out to look for the other Lord and Ladies. It didn¡¯t matter if Lord Oliver attended, as long as she had access to the Keep. Somehow. She didn¡¯t expect the other Lords or Ladies to assist her in trying to complete the Keep, but perhaps they could tell Flor what to expect.
Chapter 17 – From the South…, part 2 (of 4)
She had been riding for over an hour in the hansom as it bounced along the path. Flor realized she was glad that her pain receptors were off because she couldn¡¯t imagine spending two hours in this thing without padding.
¡°As part of the procession, the hansom will pull up to the portcullis, where the Keep guards will challenge our guards. After through the gatehouse, we¡¯ll be in the outer ward, where we will descend. We¡¯ll provide a token observance to the goddess at the Chapel, then be welcomed by the Lord Chamberlain. We may get some consternation since we are not bringing tribute, but I will deflect that,¡± said Lord 2 Lazare Francesc, who sat beside her.
Lord Lazare had defended Lord Oliver from Flor and bandits along this route less than a week since; or today, since it was the same subjective day. Lord Lazare had been the only individual of the Mayor¡¯s household who had thought it was worthwhile to fight the deeper corruption, and fortunately had Lord Oliver¡¯s blessing to do as he liked as long as it did not discredit that household.
Sparks sat on the other side of the Lord, listening and observing, but not saying much otherwise.
Sparks ¨C Flor: Can I make more than token observations at the chapel?
¡°The route takes two hours, the gala lasts four hours, and the return is another two hours. Although, as you tell it, the procession does not return from the gala at the designated time. While there, you can expect a high degree of formality required. There are no strict observances, but be polite, respectful, and curtsy lower than you did for me to each of the Lords and Ladies, and you should have no specific issues with them. However, I¡¯ll advise you not to address the Lord Necromancer or the Lord Chamberlain without an invitation.
¡°Do not stray from the path, although most areas are locked to prevent errant individuals from going where you should not. Be mindful that the Keep is meant to be defensible; defensive measures are in place.¡±
Flor realized that Lazare meant traps, and wondered at their .
¡°However, as you explained, you plan to do just that. In which case, let me explain again the layout of the keep. You will enter the assembly hall, which leads to a space to clean the road dust off of you one level higher than that. We¡¯ll meet again at the Great Hall, on the third level, where the gala will occur. You will not have access to the levels above the Great Hall or below the Assembly Hall. If your story is correct, that there are experiments that turn children into monsters, it will likely occur off the dungeon, below the assembly, along with the cellars. I have not visited, so I cannot tell you the way. But again, I¡¯d recommend caution.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°What goes on during the Gala?¡±
¡°They call it a gala, but it is more of a feast. The Lord Necromancer provides platitudes about the contributions of every citizen from the Isles and the Kingdom, observations about the Goddess, and a desire for the war to end. {Maybe, if I decide to write it, I¡¯ll cover more about the war. It doesn¡¯t influence the story greatly. Most of the characters on the Sheljour Isles are isolated from it but know that it¡¯s roughly at a standstill after a particularly bloody few years.} I would expect, but cannot guarantee, that you would be least missed after the observations to the Goddess. Do you have plans to accomplish what you intend to accomplish?¡±
Flor shook her head, then said, ¡°No. While I think the more ambitious goal is to free whatever children may still be locked in the dungeon and expose the horrors of the Lord Necromancer, there is a more localized objective to find the table that controls the Keep, much as your table in the Manor vault controls the city. Have you seen or heard where it might be, my Lord?¡±
Lord Lazare looked a touch shocked. ¡°But of course. It is in the Great Hall, where the gala will be held. Do you want to manipulate it as Alastair did the table in the Vault? You would need to do so when no others are around and unlock it with a powerful spell. So, I beg your pardon, but that appears roughly impossible.¡±
Flor harrumphed.
Flor ¨C Sparks: What do you think? As impossible as he makes it out to be?
Sparks ¨C Flor: Certainly more challenging than straightforward, although it is a relief knowing exactly where the puzzle lies and how to access it.
¡°What do you think, my Lord? Will my friend be able to remain at the Chapel rather than attend the festivities? It appears she has a strong desire to become a Cleric,¡± said Flor.
¡°That I don¡¯t know. She certainly follows the vows of silence of those at the Monastery. She may likely be assigned a guard and allowed to remain outside.¡±
¡°I will ask on her behalf.¡±
¡°Well, look. There are the gates to Bacton. Remain silent and I will answer if questioned.¡±
The road had flattened but still sloped upward. The forest cleared to a killing field. The large gatehouse looked wide enough for two carriages to ride through side by side, and towers rose on either side of the gatehouse to overlook the road and the mountain itself.
The gate was open, although a guard emerged from a room in the side as they approached.
¡°Identify yourself.¡±
One of their attendant guards replied, ¡°Lord Lazare Francesc representing Lord Oliver Guillem Francesc on behalf of West Shilgrave.¡±
Chapter 17 – From the South…, part 3 (of 4)
The guard waved them through without issue, and a moment later their hansom passed under the gate and into a large receiving area. A heavy stone building rose several floors, although two additional lower walled areas extended from the sides. From Lazare¡¯s explanation, they were dual wings known as the People¡¯s and the Lord¡¯s, which were fallback locations to house those escaping from disaster or war.
As they stopped, valets appeared and offered to help Flor and Sparks down from the hansom. Lazare helped himself down and was soon met by a rosy-cheeked man who bowed. Lazare waved him up and then indicated the two behind him.
¡°Lord Neus, I present the Brawler Flor and the aspirant Cleric Sparks. This is Lord Neus, the Lord of stewards. His stewards will assist you as needed.¡± Both Flor and Sparks curtsied politely to Neus.
¡°I see you are not joined by your brother or his wife, my Lord,¡± said Neus.
¡°He is unfortunately indisposed and sends his regrets to the Lord Necromancer.¡±
Lord of Stewards turned to lead them into the chapel. The Chapel reminded Flor of the Temple in the city, although constructed of stone rather than wood. An unnamed Cleric 3 stood at the door to offer assistance as needed. Flor considered this the best time to ask if Sparks could stay behind.
¡°My Lord Neus,¡± said Flor, ¡°My friend the Cleric aspirant Sparks would beg to remain with the Chapel or in the yards, based on her desire for reverence to the goddess. Do you have qualms about her doing so, my Lord?¡±
Lord Neus shrugged as if he had no issues. ¡°I shall inform my staff and the Cleric J¨²lia Maria.¡±
¡°Thank you, my Lord.¡±
Flor ¨C Sparks: Find cats and other helpful information, please.
Sparks ¨C Flor: Yep.
Flor continued with a brief observation of the Goddess alongside Lord Lazare, then followed him to an exit which placed the group at the main entrance to the keep, with the wings to the auxiliary keeps on either side. Up close the building was intimidating and stark, closed off with a massive wooden door. The door was open and they entered a small antechamber, which maintained a similar second door. After passing through this, they were in what must be the Assembly, which was a sparsely decorated, but wide and well-lit expanse of a room.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Lazare leaned in. He said quietly, ¡°As I said, maintain the path. I will observe for ways to get you to the table, though I still think it is an impossibility.¡± He then followed the Lord of Stewards to a set of staircases and ascended.
A steward appeared beside Flor and gently beckoned her to follow, ¡°This way, please. We will get you prepared for the ceremonies.¡± The steward led Flor to a separate spiral staircase and took Flor up a level to what opened into a large chamber with multiple simple beds and storage lockers. Nobody moved around and Flor realized they must be off doing whatever jobs they were assigned. ¡°These are the servants¡¯ quarters. I¡¯ll take you to the privy tower first then show you to a small room where you can wash the road dust off.¡±
The steward continued to talk at her while Flor cleaned, washed her face, and straightened her outfit.
¡°You must be new to Lord Francesc¡¯s retinue. At least, you haven¡¯t made this journey before. It¡¯s positively lovely that Lady Oriol is hosting this event, although it just amounts to extra work for us. Although only a little extra for me, as helping you around is within my normal duties. You could say I was made for it, ha! But I guess if you hadn¡¯t shown up I¡¯d be pulled off to some other task, so this is more along the lines of what I prefer to do anyway.¡±
Flor didn¡¯t mind the prattle, perhaps interested if there might be a hint in what she was told to help get out of this game. As Flor finished getting ready, the steward finally stopped talking.
¡°This way, then,¡± she said, taking Flor back to the spiral staircase and up another level. ¡°This is the great hall. You¡¯ll be seated over here, along the wall. There are a few other guests who will be along shortly.¡±
¡°What else should I know?¡± said Flor.
¡°Lady Oriol will give a speech, then the Cleric will give a benediction, then food will be served. The Cleric will close and there will be music and dancing if you choose. If you need the privy, I beg you to use the one previously offered rather than the off this hall.¡±
¡°Thank you. Do you have a name?¡±
The steward looked uncomfortable, ¡°You must be new here. That is not polite to ask.¡±
Flor stared at her, then said, ¡°I beg your forgiveness. I shall not ask again.¡±
At this, the steward laughed and said, ¡°Let me know if you need anything else. I¡¯ll be this way and that.¡±
Chapter 17 – From the South…, part 4 (of 4)
Flor had been to enough social events in her time to think this another of the same. Indeed, the entire premise of this location seemed overly built up and unnecessary. Perhaps it was true that she shouldn¡¯t go off the beaten path, but so far she hadn¡¯t seen an armed guard since entering through the gatehouse. What went wrong at this event that the Mayor and his procession did not return to the city without sending even a single runner? They had even shown up without the offering of human child slaves and no one had mentioned otherwise, as if it were normal to show up with or without, the difference being negligible.
Flor walked to the indicated table the steward and stood behind a chair. A few additional tables were set up across the way, and what looked like a fancy chair on a dais. Of the places she had seen in the game, this was meh, especially compared to the luxuriousness of the facilities at the monument.
Flor ¨C Sparks: How goes the hunting?
Sparks tended to appreciate reflecting on the Goddess, so Flor did not expect an immediate answer.
Several individuals moved into and through the room, and stewards brought what looked like family-style dishes to place on the tables. A few moments passed and a man in brawler gear walked up from the spiral staircase. He made his way to Flor and stood next to her.
¡°It appears I¡¯m too late to have the prime seat for escape. That being the one which you have chosen.¡±
¡°My apologies. I didn¡¯t realize it was so desired,¡± she said.
¡°I jest. I have not seen you here before. Have you come from the city?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Flor,¡± she said, offering her hand.
¡°Maximin Lluc.¡±
¡°I¡¯m here with Lord Lazare.¡±
¡°Ah, yes, I had heard that his brother and sister-in-law were not in attendance, which seems such a shame. You came with one other scribe, as well?¡±
¡°Yes. Well, cleric aspirant. She will remain in the chapel.¡±
¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll seek her out later. Look, here come the Lords and Ladies.¡±
¡°Do you know them all?¡±
¡°By both name and reputation, as I have grown up among many of them. There is Lady Blaanid, the Lord for the Peoples. As you are a subject from the city, she will probably seek you out to talk later. And Lord Monste, Lord of Messengers, followed by my sister, Lady Lluc, of provisions. I¡¯d hedge my bets that we won¡¯t see the Captain of the Guard or the Lord of the Dungeons tonight.¡±
¡°Why do you think that is the case?¡±
¡°Lord Ona rarely ventures from the dungeons and Captain Iolanda often dines with the guard.¡±
Flor said, ¡°Who¡¯s left, then?¡±
¡°The Lord Brothers Neus, of Stewards and Wardrobes, the Marshall, the Lord Meritxell, and the Lady Oriol.¡±
¡°There are certainly several more Lords and Ladies than I expected here.¡±
¡°This keep acts as the final fallback location if the King ever needed to withdraw from the mainland, and therefore is staffed as such. Look, here is the Lord Chamberlain, which means the rest should follow soon.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Several other spots at their table had filled in, and the hall filled with a general cacophony. Flor saw Lord Lazare discussing something with Lord Monste and Lady Lluc at the table. The remaining seats filled in, and a hush fell on the crowd.
Lord Neus came in and announced, ¡°The Lady Oriol.¡±
Flor was surprised at how young the lady seemed. As the only one announced, this must be the Lord Necromancer, as called, but Flor was generally confused. Maybe the Lord Necromancer was an alternative name for the Lord Chamberlain, who looked more skeletal by far than the lady. It would be a good question that she could ask Lazare since she didn¡¯t desire to call attention to her ignorance so blatantly.
The Lady Oriol took the dais, turned, and sat in the chair, almost looking ill at ease. But the quiet remained in the Hall. A moment passed and she stood again, then said, ¡°Lords and Ladies, guests and servants, welcome to Bacton. I am pleased that you will join me at this feast, and I welcome you to see Lord Francesc with us today. We have received a dispatch from the mainland. A force from Esolia has routed our attacking force on the battlefield and forced them back to the Fragile Gap. As those of you who understand geography know, the gap should be defensible for some time. However, it is with fear that we expect the Esolians to form a treaty with the Ugairovellians, which would devastate us. While I¡¯m certain this will not lead to the activation of Bacton Keep, we must continue to prepare for that eventuality.
¡°That said, it is not upon us to postpone this feast in observance of the Remembrance of Saint Valeria. J¨²lia Maria, the benediction.¡±
The Lady Oriol sat on her throne, and the Cleric stood from the Lord and Ladies¡¯ table.
¡°The Goddess looks down upon us all and provides her blessings. Saint Valeria displayed a wide pleasure of music, for which we are grateful to the Goddess for providing. At my Lady¡¯s request, however, we will postpone the true observance of the music until the feasting has concluded. Saint Valeria¡¡±
Flor wasn¡¯t overly interested in what Saint Valeria had done, so she pulled her notifications to see if Sparks had made any progress. Two messages were waiting.
Sparks ¨C Flor: Three cats so far. At least one of the clerics here is concerned about some grumbling from the servants¡¯ quarter.
Sparks ¨C Flor: I followed up a bit and it seems that there is often excessive noise from the dungeons, but there aren¡¯t any known prisoners there. That matches our expectations.
Flor ¨C Sparks: I¡¯m at the feast. The Cleric 4 is discoursing on Saint Valeria. This hall seems busy and I haven¡¯t gotten a good idea how we¡¯ll clear it to access the table.
Sparks ¨C Flor: I¡¯ll see if I can access the dungeon.
Flor ¨C Sparks: Be careful. The Lord of the Dungeon has not come down this way so it might be manned.
Flor came out of her chat and noticed that lids had been removed from the foods. Maximin leaned over and said, ¡°It almost looked like you fell asleep during that benediction.¡± Flor merely shrugged, then accepted as Maximin handed her a plate loaded with meat and greens. ¡°Stewed mutton. It¡¯s all the rage among the lords these days.¡± He also passed her a mug of wine. ¡°Prost!¡±
She clinked his mug, took a swig, and dug into the mutton.
¡°So, Flor, what do you think of the Bacton Keep?¡±
¡°I¡¯m a bit surprised. There are those in the city who, I¡¯m embarrassed to admit, refer to a Lord Necromancer running roughshod over the Keep. But it seems pleasantly lacking in the undead, if you ask me,¡± she replied between bites.
¡°Oh, that name is accurate for the Lady Oriol. I cannot give the story justice, but she was so named for pulling the King from near death during a dungeon encounter when they were younger. It¡¯s fallen out of favor to refer to her as that, but I don¡¯t think she would hold it against someone who called her that with reverence.¡±
¡°I apologize. I didn¡¯t mean to bring that topic up,¡± said Flor. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s come across me. I feel unusually tired.¡±
¡°A heavy meal after travel will do that. Take it slow on that wine.¡±
Flor noticed several others around the table had slowed their conversations.
You feel drowsy! You are poisoned!
Oh, no!
Flor placed her head on the table and fell thoroughly asleep.
Flor thought that she was being dragged down a stair hallway. Her eyes resisted opening. She tried to open her chat to warn Sparks.
Your chat is disabled
She tried to call out, but no sound came from her lips. She fought her eyes open, but she couldn¡¯t keep them open. She blinked and grunted, trying to fight against being pulled along.
Chapter 18 – …And the East, part 1 (of 4)
C+5.
Your rage has increased by 1.
Alastair felt strange walking into the Privateer¡¯s camp. Mal was alongside him, strolling like she owned the place. Galoots was also there, although she dragged herself along since her energy was low. Mal had almost considered it worthless for Galoots to come to the Bay. There was no way that Galoots could both hike from the monastery to the bay and up the mountain to the keep and then do anything useful other than be fodder. Alastair had suggested that maybe Galoots could get the rough travel boots from the ship today and then, assuming they didn¡¯t solve the keep today, she could join them tomorrow. So both Alastair and Mal donated a couple of low-power batteries and Galoots found a well of strength within her to make the trek, although she complained about the lack of beer almost from the start.
Mal had shown them a back way from the Monastery to the path that led to the Tower, meaning they had been able to bypass the Farms completely. Along the way, she explained how the rough travel boots made travel along these paths almost negligible, whereas without the boots travel on this path would burn energy at twice the rate of traveling on a paved road. ¡°The boots halve travel costs on terrain, but not on roads, so we should get to the bay with only minimum energy expenditure, except for you Gal. You¡¯ll be at or around twenty energy, depending on how much was in your reserve when we started.¡±
¡°But I¡¯ll gain energy each hour, also, right? So I¡¯ll gain an amount for each duration.¡±
¡°Usually, except when you¡¯re truly offroad, you pay a penalty for the terrain. I don¡¯t want to explain this right now.¡± {But I will, for your sake, dear reader. Any point on their map has a difficulty rating of zero to three. A zero rating compares to a paved road while rating one might be an incline or uneven path. Rating two is uneven terrain or rough incline, and three may seem like going straight up. Without the assistance of a certain type of boot or other boost, the effort required for rating two and three prevents the standard energy gain of one energy per hour. Hopefully, that clears it up a bit.}
Alastair asked, ¡°How is it that this energy expenditure only matters so late in the game?¡±
¡°You probably, up to the point you went to the Bay, didn¡¯t stress the energy system enough to need to understand it. I¡¯ve been pushing the boundaries since the beginning.¡±
¡°What else burns energy?¡±
¡°Puzzles, including combat. If there are other things, I haven¡¯t noticed them,¡± said Galoots.
¡°What about petting cats?¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯ve noticed.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the maximum hypothetical amount someone could do in the game with the energy allotment?¡±
¡°Without boosts? I don¡¯t know about hypothetical since I¡¯ve had the rough travel boots since close to the beginning,¡± said Maelstrom, ¡°but I¡¯ve regularly made it from the Bay to the Lighthouse and back without using a battery.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°My point,¡± said Alastair, ¡°is that this game place shouldn¡¯t be resetting at midnight, should it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Galoots simultaneously as Mal said ¡°No.¡±
¡°So this entire server is just messed up.¡±
¡°Oh, it is at that. I¡¯m sure there are things we don¡¯t even realize are messed up compared to other servers,¡± said Galoots. ¡°You consider, well, I do at least, how an alpha test is supposed to run, and this isn¡¯t it. Starting with the lack of ability to log out, let alone the inability to control difficulty settings, and the addition of rage, which isn¡¯t even a factor I had learned about until I was in the game, and I was following closely. It¡¯s truly fortunate, I think, that they didn¡¯t mandatorily enforce pain receptors because I think they might have just had all the players on the server hesitant to do anything.¡±
Alastair said, ¡°As it is, we must get out of here soon and then lodge a joint complaint against Solar Cel. Flor and I didn¡¯t sign up for this test intentionally, and we all face some consequences we¡¯d rather not.¡±
¡°True. Hey, Mal, could I set my base location to the ship? Not that I think I have the willpower to do so, but it might be useful if I could.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Ask the ship¡¯s doctor when you¡¯re on there. That might be useful, anyway, to distract him if he¡¯s in the officer¡¯s cabin while you¡¯re getting the boots. Nova, can you go to that tent and tell the Captain that you and I will join on their venture? I¡¯d like to have a word with Galoots before we go.¡±
Alastair went to the indicated tent where several Privateers gathered. One sailor lounged outside the entrance. He gave Alastair a dirty glare as he approached. ¡°I¡¯m here to go with the Captain for the siege on the keep,¡± Alastair said. The sailor continued to glare at him but didn¡¯t try to stop him as he entered through the flaps.
A large, low table was spread out on the ground, and several Privateers lounged on pillows talking in low voices. They looked up at him as he walked in.
One of the men, closely inspecting what looked like a pistol, said, ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°I¡¯m here to join the siege. Maelstrom will be along in a moment.¡±
A different man said, ¡°She¡¯s joining us again, huh? It¡¯s been a while. And you are?¡±
¡°Alastair. Scribe three.¡±
¡°Well, Alastair, Scribe three. You acknowledge the risk, that we won¡¯t be bothered if you fall behind, and that if you endanger the operation, any of these men have permission to dispatch you with my warmest wishes?¡±
Alastair nodded, then said, ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Welcome aboard, then. I¡¯m Lieutenant Vedast. That there is Captain S¨¦gol¨¨ne and the man with the gun is the Sergeant. Follow the cues from the Sergeant, and you may do alright. We¡¯ll leave in ten minutes.¡±
Alastair sat on an open pillow and looked at the documents on the table. Most obviously was a chart with topological marks of the island. Alastair had not before had a good look at the island¡¯s layout. There were markings on the chart, which Alastair considered might be their route from the Bay to the Keep. It looked to go almost straight up the mountain, which gave him pause. He had never been a fan of hard hiking, but if it got him out of this game, he¡¯d suffer through it.
The tent flaps moved and Mal walked in. ¡°Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, men.¡±
They nodded in familiarity to her but weren¡¯t overly welcoming otherwise. Perhaps Mal had gone about treating everyone on the island with disdain, and therefore everyone might hold some grudge against her.
Captain S¨¦gol¨¨ne stood up. ¡°Alright, Vedast. Let¡¯s rescue some kids and put the Necromancer in her place.¡±
Lieutenant Vedast stood as well, as did the others. ¡°Sergeant, final check.¡±
He answered, ¡°We¡¯re ready. I can¡¯t speak for the tag-a-longs, but we¡¯re ready.¡±
Vedast looked at Mal and Alastair. ¡°It¡¯s too late for you if you aren¡¯t. Let¡¯s go.¡±
The Sergeant took the lead out of the tent, walking around it and down toward the bay, then across and over through a break in the trees, then started up the mountain.
Chapter 18 – …And the East, part 2 (of 4)
The climbing continued for what felt like hours when they stopped. Alastair realized that it might have been hours. There hadn¡¯t been any chatter, mostly due to the focus necessary to climb the steep slope. Vedast spoke with the Sergeant and then pulled the Captain aside for a quiet conversation.
The Sergeant came over and told the team in a low voice, ¡°Five minutes.¡±
Alastair looked at Maelstrom. ¡°This sucks.¡±
¡°It¡¯s my least favorite part, but it¡¯s oddly better going up than going down the other way. If you looked at the plan, you¡¯d realize that fortunately, the exit route isn¡¯t back this way. Well, the emergency exit is, but not the intended exit, which is down through the farms. It looks like the one-minute countdown. You still up for this?¡±
¡°Just ready to be done with climbing.¡±
Mal stood and started to climb, following behind Vedast. Alastair was sure the look he gave her was a warning that what was coming would be worse.
What seemed like another couple of hours of climbing later and they stopped again. Vedast spoke again with the Sergeant, who spoke to the other two men. They both continued onward and upward around a blind corner. One of the men returned a few minutes later. Raider 2 came back and gave a non-nondescript grunt. The Sergeant followed after him around the corner, then came back and gave a signal to Vedast, who spoke to the Captain and then gave a signal to the men to proceed. Alastair and Mal followed around the corner, which opened onto a flat expanse with a small gate attached to a tower.
Mal leaned to Alastair and said, ¡°That¡¯s the Bay tower. There are seven towers in the Keep, all to observe the seven other main locations on the island. The raiders got access through the gate, and we¡¯ll slip in through the Lords¡¯ Hold, which should be empty from now. Just follow the Sergeant and don¡¯t stray, and we should be able to get into the dungeon. After that, you and I need to find the keep puzzle. When I was here before, I checked through the dungeon and storerooms, but I think there is a section of the dungeon that I couldn¡¯t access.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t we worried about guards and servants and such?¡±
¡°And traps. But that¡¯s only if we go off the direct path. By following the sergeant, there are a few chance encounters, but we fight them only if we want to. Otherwise, the raiders dispatch them.¡±
They had entered through the gate. A couple of guards looked as if they had been bludgeoned, and Alastair realized that must have been the work of the two vanguards. Passing through the gate, they entered an expansive yard. A classic large keep stacked atop an expansive low flat building. From the previous description, Alastair realized this low building must be the Lord¡¯s Hold, counterbalanced by the People¡¯s Hold on the other side. The yards were quiet and empty.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°What makes this so difficult, then?¡±
¡°After we¡¯re in the dungeon, we¡¯ll fight the Lord of the Dungeons. The last time I fought him I was a level 1 and solo. It should be a bit easier with the two of us, especially as we¡¯re both level 3. But, after that, there are waves of guards. The privateers and raiders get overwhelmed quickly, and then so did I. It¡¯s nearly impossible to explore while fighting off the full strength of the Keep guards. If we decide not to help rescue the kids from the dungeon, we run into those traps and increased chance encounters. Most guards are equipped as level 3 brawlers, so the fights aren¡¯t easy. While our energy shows as full, it¡¯s probably closer to 32 than 40. We don¡¯t have much to spare before we start feeling the additional effects of low energy. You probably experienced it on your hike to the bay. Everything gets harder the lower your energy.¡±
¡°That¡¯s at least like real life,¡± he said.
The group entered a small door in the Lord¡¯s Hold, which led to a long hallway without adornments. Alastair considered it spartan and wondered if this was for servants rather than the Lords. They continued quietly. A moment later a guard came around a corner. The Sergeant looked at Mal, who shook her head no, then motioned to two of the raiders.
The guard hadn¡¯t seen them yet, but Alastair saw concern on his face the moment he did. He turned and started to run back in the direction he had come from, likely to inform others and muster up additional forces. But a moment later, the raiders sprinted and turned the corner. Maybe they would catch him, but Vedast seemed as if he didn¡¯t want to take any chances and encouraged the group to greater speed. They pushed on through the corridor, and as they passed the cross hall, Alastair saw the raiders engaging with the guard, who looked bloodied and about to give in.
Vedast led the group onward. A moment later the two raiders joined the group at the rear.
They arrived at a small wooden door at the end of the corridor, similar to the one leading outside. The Sergeant motioned to the raiders, who opened it and peered through, then indicated that it was clear. The door opened to what seemed like a receiving space, significantly more lavish than they had walked through.
Mal leaned in, ¡°Here¡¯s the part where we can continue to the dungeon or break away.¡±
¡°We should have discussed this before.¡±
¡°What¡¯s your take? Is the puzzle in the dungeon or elsewhere?¡±
¡°I¡¯d say wherever the Lord gathers his people.¡±
¡°So, not the dungeon.¡±
¡°Not unless there is something like the city vault.¡±
The group had approached a spiral stairwell that led both down and up. Mal said something to the Sergeant, who looked annoyed but nodded. The group began to go down the stairs but Mal began to go up. Alastair followed along behind her. ¡°I¡¯d say we¡¯re going for the great hall, then. I don¡¯t know where it is, but my guess is up.¡±
The stairs wound around and upward. At the landing, they looked in on an expansive room with several beds but not much else. Mal looked at Alastair. He shook his head no, it wouldn¡¯t be in here. But she moved in any way. Something seemed off to Alastair.
¡°Isn¡¯t there a gala going on? Why is it this quiet? Shouldn¡¯t there be signs of life and noises and such?¡±
¡°It is a bit disconcerting. I haven¡¯t been up before. There are lots of noises down, if you need sound, though.¡±
¡°No, something just seems wrong.¡±
Alastair noticed movement. A tall man came out of a side room from the other side of the space. He walked toward them with a determined look on his face. As the man approached, Alastair saw his name and title: Fausta, Wizard 5.
¡°Uh, Maelstrom. We have company. Can we take on a level 5?¡±
Chapter 18 – …And the East, part 3 (of 4)
Maelstrom looked up, seemed surprised, and prepared her sword. Alastair prepared his new staff and prepared for combat. ¡°One way to find out.¡±
The man closed on them quickly but stopped before they were in range. He regarded them for a moment before saying, ¡°Peace, players. I¡¯m not here to fight.¡±
¡°Forgive us if we don¡¯t put away our weapons just yet,¡± said Mal.
¡°Fair enough. I¡¯m here on behalf of Solar Cell. I think it is prudent that you listen to me.¡±
¡°As in, Solar Cell, the company that had us trapped in this game.¡±
Fausta nodded. ¡°Yes. It has come to their attention that you are trapped, and they are actively working to assist in your release. I am one such means of assistance.¡±
Alastair said, ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Your release conditions are to solve this Keep. However, if you do so, you will not release everyone. All the players on the server who have not yet completed the Keep will not be released.¡±
¡°That¡¯s great and all, but the other players can solve their own problems,¡± said Mal.
¡°While that is the ideal solution, there are players on this server that are not in a place to do so,¡± Fausta replied, ¡°as some players have not yet started to solve any of the problems as you have done. The development team is working to do so, but one specific case requires greater attention.
¡°As you may realize, some areas of the game grow increasingly challenging. I think you are both aware of Inflection Point, yes?¡±
Alastair shook his head no while Mal said, ¡°Yeah, of course.¡±
¡°I see Alastair Nova does not know of it by that name. You may call it the tower on the east side of the Sheljour Isles.¡±
¡°Oh, yeah. Inflection Point does ring a bell.¡±
¡°But what does it have to do with us?¡± Mal asked.
¡°Not you specifically, but a player starts in that location yet does not escape it.¡±
Alastair looked confused, but Mal got animated. ¡°What?! I¡¯ve been following the news on this stupid game for months and that¡¯s not supposed to happen.¡±
Fausta looked sad. ¡°Yes. It is not ideal. The player will remain in that location until someone can release him.¡±
¡°You mean, get into the tower, join a party with the player, and then meet the other exit criteria?¡±
Fausta nodded. ¡°You catch on quick.¡±
Maelstrom asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t you do it?¡±
¡°As I¡¯ve said before, Solar Cell is working to fix the problem. I am the first AI added to your server to start the process. Additional AI will be added tomorrow or overmorrow, but those will be at a lower level than I am and will need additional time to become strong enough to assault the tower. Solar Cell acknowledges that you are in place for longer than the recommended duration. Adding two additional days, plus days to become strong enough to get to the tower risks endangering the life of the player at that location. As two of the strongest players on the server, the development team implores you to care for the welfare of someone in a similar circumstance as you.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Mal jumped in at the lull, ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but won¡¯t we be booted from the server once we solve the puzzle here?¡±
Fausta nodded. ¡°Yes. Except¡there is a unique option for you once you complete the Keep puzzle. The developers had intended this game as a closed system, meaning that it is more akin to a video game with discrete challenges that can be measured, rather than a perpetual open world. Perhaps you have heard of older games that had something called ¡®new game plus.¡¯ Does this make sense to you?¡±
Mal said, ¡°Like, we beat the game and then get to start again with all of our current equipment and settings in place.¡±
¡°Correct.¡±
¡°So, it¡¯s technically possible to collect everything in the game?¡±
¡°You would be hard-pressed to do so without a strong team, but you should have an interface option that shows your total game completion.¡±
The curiosity of looking almost overtook Alastair, but this conversation was moving too fast for him to feel comfortable missing any of it.
¡°What do we get out of sticking around? I¡¯m going crazy, even before voluntarily choosing to stay around longer. And how can we know we won¡¯t be locked in the game again if we go onto a new game plus?¡±
Fausta blinked, then held up a hand for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m uncertain about your points, but I sent messages to the development team to inquire. Due to the time compression in the game, I will not expect an immediate response, but I will let you know as soon as I get one. It appears you are maxed out for party members at your current level, so unfortunately I cannot add you to a party. However, I will send the responses to you directly.¡±
¡°What are our party limits? It isn¡¯t explained anywhere,¡± asked Alistair.
Mal looked affronted, ¡°Who cares?¡± She turned toward Fausta, ¡°So what can you help us with, anyway?¡±
¡°I will confirm that you are on the right path to beat this location, and hence receive escape from the game. You are not yet strong enough to take on the carnage you would experience if you went up one level to the Main Hall. Therefore, I encourage you to take two actions, and I will accompany you in the process. First, you must increase your interface, and therefore I will encourage you to find and pet more cats. Second, you must use what time you have today to grind and get stronger so that you will be able to survive the tower.¡±
¡°So, more cats. And what do we do to get stronger? Fight guards?¡±
Fausta said, ¡°I recommend the dungeon.¡±
¡°For cats?¡±
¡°No, to get stronger.¡±
¡°Look, Fausta. The player Galoots has a theory about the number of cats unlocking interfaces. Let¡¯s assume we can¡¯t get the ones from the Inflection Point yet,¡± said Alastair. ¡°How many more cats do we need to unlock the next interface, and why is it so important?¡±
¡°If you¡¯ve unlocked your tenth interface, meaning you have access to global chat, you have at least fifty-five cats. The next unlock is at eighty-nine cats.¡±
¡°Eighty-nine! At the rate we¡¯re going, that¡¯ll take another week.¡±
¡°You forget that as your party grows, the cats petted are cumulative, but not backward compatible.¡±
Mal said, ¡°That means that if you ever accept my party invitation, I won¡¯t get access to the cats you¡¯ve pet and you won¡¯t get access to mine.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t remember getting a party invitation from you.¡±
¡°If you have already reached party capacity, it will not show until you boot another individual or level to a larger party capacity.¡±
¡°Ah. Sorry Mal, it looks like you¡¯ll have to wait. But seriously, another forty-something cats? What did you say it does, Fausta?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t. It will allow you to access the interface back door, which allows you to see increased features on your displays, such as where unpetted cats are located, and other items that will assist you, if you so choose, to aim for completeness in the game. And increase your max party size to eight.¡±
Alastair said, ¡°And what does that get us? Bragging rights on an incomplete game?¡±
Fausta looked as if he was about to say something, but reconsidered. ¡°Yes, bragging rights. I¡¯m uncertain if there are other benefits but I asked that question to the developers.¡±
¡°Okay, well, now that that¡¯s not settled, let¡¯s head to the dungeon, I guess?¡±
Mal shrugged.
Chapter 18 – …And the East, part 4 (of 4)
Although they had recently separated from the privateers, Alastair expected they would run into them again attempting to free children from the dungeon. Though he wasn¡¯t a part of their party, Fausta, being a level five wizard, cast a spell upon Alastair and Maelstrom to make them invisible for a short duration.
¡°I¡¯m attempting to gain your trust so that you have more reason to assist me in freeing the player at Inflection Point,¡± he said, leading them back down the stairs.
There were sounds of fighting further down the stairs, but Fausta led them across the Assembly hall to a separate staircase.
¡°The dungeon proper is through the storerooms below this level. As you are not partied, I recommend you don¡¯t go beyond the third floor. Now, forgive me, but other players here need assistance.¡±
The two went down another stairwell to what seemed like a storeroom. Mal said, ¡°So, through here, huh? Do we check doors or look for a glowing sign that says dungeon this way?¡±
¡°Was that a joke? What do you think he meant by other players here? Do you think someone else assaulted the Keep?¡±
¡°The only other players remotely strong enough are Galoots, Flor, and Sparks,¡± said Mal. ¡°I don¡¯t think Galoots would survive the climb, especially so soon after we did.
¡°Hold on, then. Let me check something.¡± Knowing Flor had blocked him, Alastair entered his interface and texted Sparks.
Alastair ¨C Sparks: Sparks. Did you and Flor come to the Keep?
When he came out, he looked at Mal, then pointed toward ¡°Let¡¯s check through that door, there, to see if it leads to the dungeon. What do you think of Fausta¡¯s offer.¡±
¡°Unless it pays out in real currency, I¡¯m not inclined to accept the offer. I want to clear this Keep and get out of the game, now.¡±
¡°What¡¯s that all about, anyway? You mentioned something like that before the first time you killed me,¡± said Alastair as he opened the door. He peered in, it was another storeroom, but there looked to be another door on the other side. He shrugged and entered, going to check it.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Mal said, ¡°I¡¯m just in this for the payout. Real money for only several hours of your life. But we¡¯re so close to just being done with it.¡±
Alastair opened the other door, which looked like it led downstairs into the Keep. ¡°This might be it.¡± He started to walk down into what seemed an unusually dark and damp stairwell. ¡°Do you have a light of some sort?¡±
Mal said, ¡°Wait one minute.¡± She went back up the stairs and returned with two lit torches. She handed one to Alastair, then said, ¡°Let me go first. If they run two instances of this place simultaneously, I don¡¯t want to be held up by your delays.¡±
Alastair rolled his eyes but let her pass ahead. Sure enough, the stairs came across a landing and Mal was no longer there. Alastair stepped forward. His interface flashed and he was in the combat game.
What looked like an old-school video game slime grew out of the ground and then pulsed blue. A seven-by-five grid appeared with red, blue, green, purple, and bone-colored gems. Alastair felt confident this would be easy since he was wielding his new level two Scribe¡¯s staff. Although his armor was also level two, the jump in price to level three gear was significant. Maybe that is what Fausta meant that he and Mal weren¡¯t strong enough to take on the Keep puzzle just yet. Perhaps they needed better equipment.
Combining three red gems, Alastair glowed faintly red as he swung his staff like an eight-iron directly into the slime, which flew into the wall. A skull icon appeared over the slime, and it sank back into the ground. The grid and combat interface cleared.
Combat complete. +1 to Combat.
Alastair was grateful that he and ETC had found the setting to turn off the offer to complete challenges again. ETC had even noticed a radial that allowed it to be turned back on if Alastair failed a challenge. But still, the relief from not having to manually or mentally select ¡®No¡¯ every time he completed a puzzle felt great.
He walked to where the slime had dissolved and saw the remains. He surveyed the remains and saw the slime was called Blue Slime Mold. Alastair picked up a small vial next to the slime mold called ¡®Electrolyte.¡¯
¡°Huh. More new loot. This seems more relevant than the flotsam and jetsam I got from that cave dungeon. Electrolyte has to do with batteries.¡±
Alastair pulled up his interface again and saw a new notification. He opened it up.
Sparks ¨C Alastair: Yes, Flor and I are at the Keep. I can¡¯t chat with her, though. It says ¡®chat disabled.¡¯
Concern flooded him, although he knew that it technically wasn¡¯t his responsibility right now.
Alastair ¨C Sparks: Maelstrom and I are in the Keep dungeon. Where are you?
Sparks ¨C Alastair: Thank goodness you replied. I thought I had lost all communication. I¡¯m in the Chapel. How did you know we were here?
Alastair ¨C Sparks: I¡¯ll explain later. We need to save Flor!
Sparks ¨C Alastair: ¡
Alastair ¨C Sparks: I¡¯ll come to the Chapel.
Sparks: Meet me in the Assembly Hall.
Alastair swapped over to a different chat.
Alastair ¨C Maelstrom: Flor and Sparks are here, but Sparks lost chat with Flor. I¡¯m going to save her.
He closed the interface and ran up the stairs.
Chapter 19 – Mold in the Dungeon
C+5
Already, with three coins and several battery parts richer, Paige avoided the notification from Alastair. She worked quickly past the slime molds in the first seven rooms of this dungeon. The molds matched in color to the combat puzzle runes: Red, blue, green, and purple. Maybe on a repeat play-through, she would encounter a bone-colored slime.
A door stood beyond the purple slime mold. She opened it and climbed down to the next floor. A faint red glow surrounded the landing, but Paige couldn¡¯t tell where it came from. It concerned her, regardless, but not enough to slow her. The walls were rougher than the stone on the first level. She barged into the first room with only a shred of caution.
Her combat interface appeared but Paige couldn¡¯t see her opponent. She decided to be extra cautious and selected a dodge move which allowed her to combo attack and dodge again on the next round. A puff of something floated past her. She made the follow-up combo. Her game character seemed to know where to attack because she slashed quickly at something on the ground and then rolled to the side. The interface disappeared and she looked at the creature before her.
Red Rambling Rhodotus. It left her a coin and another vial of electrolyte, so she pocketed both. The thing before her looked like a mushroom cap. Is a Rhodotus a mushroom? I hate mushrooms. She pulled up her notifications to ask Nova if he knew the answer when she read his message.
¡°Dammit! Now I¡¯m going to have to go save him, too.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Not willing to give up her progress, Paige continued to fight through the six rooms of the mushroom level. She fought Green Gandering Gloiocephala and the Silver Sauntering Strobiluruslevel boss. They didn¡¯t overly threaten her, other than her sensibilities.
Her curiosity about Alastair¡¯s situation continued to bug her. Despite not liking him¡he was a coward after all¡ she needed him to get out of this game. And yet, she also had her longer-term objective of making money from this playtest. Besides, nothing so horrible would happen to him or Flor that they wouldn¡¯t wake up again tomorrow. So it was prudent to let them work out their challenges themselves.
The third level was filled with a gardener and forager type of Mushroom Gremlins. They were easier to see but both types spored which caused a missed turn due to a blind effect. The level boss was called Chief Mushroom Gremlin, and Paige was surprised when the spores it sent out turned into tiny gremlins that also attacked her. In no other dungeon had Paige encountered monsters that made more monsters. She walked away from the fight with a slightly healthier respect for the warning from Fausta not to go beyond the third floor. What sort of fungus waited for them down there?
She sat on the ground for a moment and called out her daemon. A glowing blue cockatoo flew from above and landed on her shoulder. ¡°So, Bert {His full name was Austrobert Winiabld, but he was happy to be called Bert}, how do you appraise the loot?¡±
¡°Fifteen coins and enough items to make several temporary batteries, which you could sell for close to another sixteen coins. ¡±
¡°Bah! Barely worth my time. Hey, you haven¡¯t seen a shop in this place that I¡¯ve overlooked, have you?¡±
¡°I have not. Which does not match the nature of the locations. Perhaps it is tucked away somewhere.¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m noting that as another playtest bug. Especially since I won¡¯t keep my coins in the morning. Okay, let¡¯s go save Nova and Flor.¡±
Chapter 20 – Incomplete, part 1 (of 3)
C+6
Your rage has increased by +1.
Flor woke at the Brawler¡¯s Rest. The wood beneath her was hard. She swore that she felt aches and pains, but she wasn¡¯t sure if they were phantom pains caused by the hard plank bed or the torture she endured waking in the dungeon yesterday.
She shivered, not desiring to remember her time in that place.
She also suffered something like embarrassment and wondered if that was a dream or some other factor. Having been restrained spread eagle on a rack, without the ability to move or see or complain or fight back, she felt the fear build and time pass. At least she could bide an amount of time by exploring through her interface, checking the menus and submenus for what seemed like hours.
Eventually, she heard fighting. And then, embarrassingly, Alastair was there removing the hood from her head and freeing her hands. Sparks was there also, alongside an impressing-looking¡wizard¡ restraining the keep guards. Flor fell into Alastair¡¯s arms as he freed her. After a few moments, Maelstrom joined the group. Flor prepared to fight her, but Alastair said she was there to help.
The wizard, Fausta, had then said that they would best obtain the cats from the Keep and that he could guide them to the expected locations of each, which is how they ended up petting eleven additional cats that day. Well, Sparks had said she found two of them earlier. {The twelve cats are Shizuka (Japanese bobtail), Hibiki (aka Biscuit Maker ¨C of unknown breed), Makeki (a lucky cat), Tora (American shorthair), Michiko (Persian), Hikaru (Japanese shorthair), Michi (Japanese bobtail), Bakereko (Yokai), Nitame, Yontama, and Hachi who are all various colors of Japanese bobtail.}
Fausta led the way but stopped short of the Main Hall. In a quiet voice, he said, ¡°Again, I implore you to not try to solve this puzzle now. I believe you are too weak to complete the assault now, and although I am powerful, I cannot assist you. Indeed, I will not do so even if you ask.¡±
Flor, still feeling disoriented from either the poison or the being tied up, looked to Alastair, who was supporting her. He said, ¡°I¡¯ll explain later.¡±
Fasuta continued, ¡°After one additional cat, the only remaining cat in the Keep is in the Main Hall and only available after you complete the assault. Instead, I recommend you each go back to your point of origin. As I cannot vouch for your safety and rest for the evening, I recommend against sleeping here in the keep. Tomorrow, you must unlock the Interface 3 setting control by petting cats. You must gain enough power to complete the assault. Having reviewed your statuses, I recommend you pursue the cats at Diederick. Then, although I will do so as well, you must find the other players in this game and encourage them to push for completion. We must rescue the player at Inflection Point.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Maelstrom said, ¡°Any word yet on a boon provided for doing so?¡±
¡°Again, you have my word that I have asked. But time here is stretched compared to the outer world. Therefore, the question is likely still in consideration by the developers and other stakeholders.¡±
¡°So, big fat chance of no, then.¡±
¡°It has been less than four subjective minutes since you asked the question and I passed it along. Give them at least a game day to process the request. That I am here should encourage you that they recognize the danger and are invested in resolving it amicably.¡±
Sparks convinced the group of the worth of spending a few coins getting drunk at the Widow¡¯s Siege bar. No one had complained, although Fausta declined.
The group, including Maelstrom, to Flor¡¯s chagrin, made the way down the mountain to the city and then up to the odd resort that was Widow¡¯s Siege. Alastair had exclaimed at the place and cursed their luck not having that as their starting location. Then, they sat around the table served by Barkeep Ja.
Despite his insistence, Flor had discouraged Alastair from staying with her for the night.
And now it was morning. Flor wondered if she had time to get to Ametz to reduce her rage before kicking off the day.
Alastair ¨C Party: Good morning, everyone. Maelstrom and I are on the ship requesting to be let off at the Lighthouse. It should take us the longest to get to the Monastery. We can pick up Sparks along the way and then meet Flor at the Shilgrave south gate.
Although she had switched from the boat to the Brawler¡¯s Rest, Flor hadn¡¯t known was possible to switch starting locations. Although Fausta had said not to sleep at the Keep, she took that as a warning against danger, not as changing her location. That lessened her time, but maybe she could get to Ametz. Self-care was a priority, anyway.
Galoots ¨C Party: Hi, everyone. Sorry I missed the party last night. Glad you¡¯re all safe and recovered. I¡¯ll have a beer ready for you when you get here. What¡¯s the ETA?
Alastair ¨C Party: A bit over three hours, so 8:30-ish.
Flor ¨C Party: Wait for me at the south gate. I have a couple of chores to do, so give me an extra half hour. Unless you want to visit Mida and the Lords while you¡¯re here?
Alastair ¨C Party: It¡¯s reasonable to have those conversations, but we probably have time to chat with those folks after we unlock the next party size and can draw the other players to the party.
Flor ¨C Party: Well, I still need that half hour.
Alastair ¨C Party: That way we¡¯ll maximize the progress to opening the tower for the most people.
Alastair ¨C Party: ¡
Galoots ¨C Party: I have an hour until the bread is served, so I¡¯ll see if I can find an early morning cat or two.
Alastair ¨C Party: Okay, Flor. We have lots to do today to assault tomorrow, so minimize lollygagging, please.
Flor felt her rage rising. She had felt calm, at least calmer, over the past few days, but with just one day back in her life, Alastair was already contemptible. It would be unfortunate to make Sparks wait, and she still wasn¡¯t sure about Maelstrom, but Alastair could wait for a half hour or longer for her at the south gate.
Chapter 20 – Incomplete, part 2 (of 3)
¡°Well, look who the cats dragged in. Sparks, Flor, it¡¯s nice to meet you in person,¡± said Galoots. ¡°Alastair, Maelstrom, long time no see. Let¡¯s go get a beer and then there is a little garden spot I can show you and we can chat about our way forward.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s skip the beer and just get to cat hunting,¡± said Maelstrom.
¡°I must offer my devotions to the goddess,¡± said Sparks.
¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that beer. Clear out the road dust. Flor, the beer is fresher here than elsewhere on the island,¡± said Alastair.
¡°Let¡¯s just get it done. And nice to meet you too, Galoots.¡±
Sparks and Maelstrom peeled off. Galoots directed them into a galley and then grabbed a loaf of bread that smelled fresh and amazing. She then drew herself a beer, took a swig, and then topped it off.
Flor grabbed both since the bread smelled even more amazing than the beer. She followed Galoots out the door to a small garden with a bench.
Flor noticed the dry bench and asked, ¡°It doesn¡¯t rain here?¡±
¡°Not until later. There is a shower mid-morning, but it passes quickly. Unlike the deluge that occurs over the city.¡±
¡°Something Alastair said last night about the Widow¡¯s Siege. Why couldn¡¯t we have started with that luxury? Or this luxury?¡±
¡°Could be worse. It sounds like there is a player stuck in the tower. I can¡¯t even imagine what that¡¯s like.¡±
Alastair said, ¡°So you¡¯re in for attempting the rescue, then?¡±
Galoots looked at Flor. ¡°I¡¯m uncertain if Al told you what I do outside this game.¡± Then back at Alastair and said, ¡°For the chance, a real chance, of getting into that place and having advanced intel on it. I¡¯m in, even if you have to drag me kicking away from my beer here.¡±
¡°So, you write game guides or reviews of games or something?¡±
¡°Yes, close enough. Anyway, yeah. So tell me about this Fausta?¡±
Flor was curious, also.
Alastair said, ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t overly much to tell. He is a Solar Cell-produced AI plugged into this server just yesterday to assist the player in the tower.¡±
¡°Why just yesterday?¡±
¡°He didn¡¯t say, but maybe because they didn¡¯t know about us or the other player until yesterday or the day before. He said there would be more AI-like players coming online today or tomorrow to work toward the objective of freeing the player in the tower, but that it would take extra days to get them upgraded enough to make it to the tower. And that makes it risky for the health of the guy in the tower. We really need a nickname for him or her.¡±
Flor considered. It seemed like Galoots was doing the same. She said ¡°Stuckard,¡± while Galoots said ¡°Pineapple.¡±
Alastair looked at them both. ¡°So, Stuckard or Pineapple. I don¡¯t know what to go with.¡±
¡°Pineapple is silly. I don¡¯t know where I came with it. But what about Stuckard?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°I was thinking that they are stuck in the tower. But I¡¯m not good at making bad nicknames ¨C that¡¯s Alastair¡¯s job.¡±
¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know he had that skill. What¡¯s your recommendation, then?¡±
Alastair looked thoughtful, then said, ¡°I was going to say Spike. Because he¡¯s in a tower.¡±
¡°Well, how about we shelf it for now and see what ¡®stuckards¡¯ later.¡±
Flor glared at Galoots, who held up her hands defensively.
Alastair jumped in, ¡°So, back to task. Let¡¯s find cats. How many do you know are around here?¡±
¡°Best guess is twenty-four. I stopped petting at thirteen, but I could find those thirteen again. They are all metal names, here.¡±
¡°Metal, like heavy metal or like iron metal?¡±
¡°Like iron metal.¡±
¡°So, where do we start?¡±
Galoots said, ¡°Well, I estimate roughly two cats in each zone. There should be one or two here in the Gardens.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s spread out and look, then.¡±
Flor wandered toward the pond where several ducks lazed about on the water. A little duck house was on stilts a bit set back. She realized she hadn¡¯t looked around yet at the buildings in general. She was in a small vegetable garden, but a bit further in a few trees separated a small apiary. A clock tower rose on one side, more like a clock on a lightpost than the carillon in the city. There was a matching set of shrines just past the gate, and what looked like empty stables past them. The temple rose behind the shrines, fairly large compared to the surrounding buildings. She knew the purpose of the kitchen, but could only guess at the purpose of several other buildings. It was quiet, peaceful, and suitable for rest.
Galoots walked up next to her as she looked around. Somehow, Galoots had a fresh full mug of beer. ¡°So, any luck yet?¡±
¡°No. I¡¯ve been looking around at this place in general. There don¡¯t seem to be many people here.¡±
¡°With you and the team, it¡¯s right around thirty. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve realized yet, but they all took a vow of silence for coming here, so unfortunately the monks and clerics aren¡¯t helpful with finding the cats.¡±
¡°It seemed unusually quiet. It¡¯s like they filled the city and neglected to build these other areas.¡±
¡°I expect that¡¯s something that¡¯ll get fixed by the beta tests. This game functions well despite glitches like having a player stuck in the tower.¡±
¡°Yes, it¡¯s functional alright. I¡¯m ready to be out of it though.¡±
¡°A few more days shouldn¡¯t be so bad.¡±
¡°Speak for yourself. Even with the rage reduction I¡¯ve been doing, I detest this place. It¡¯s like, the rage reduction isn¡¯t reducing my rage really, but rather just allowing me to hide it better. I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s healthy, or that I could last much longer at this rate.¡±
¡°Yeah, the rage factor isn¡¯t something I anticipated, and I don¡¯t think I have a good handle on how it works. Like, the counter keeps rising, but it doesn¡¯t seem to affect me otherwise.¡±
Flor considered that she hadn¡¯t thought about it much. There was something noticeable. ¡°Is irritability something that grows? Maybe I¡¯m more grouchy than normal. I can¡¯t stand certain people because they get on my nerves. That¡¯s the effect on me, I think.¡±
¡°Huh. That¡¯s something to consider. With a name like ¡®rage,¡¯ we¡¯d be gorillas wanting to throw stuff at each other or fighting. I should ask the others what they think their rage controls. Oooh, be quiet for a second. I think I see a tail over there.¡±
Flor looked where Galoots was pointing, through the trees toward the apiary. Sure enough, a tail pointed straight up just past some flowers. Flor walked as quietly as she could in that direction. As she got closer, she noticed the prickly tail belonged to a tin-colored cat. {Which is just a middling grey (or gray) for those who don¡¯t know. Oh, look, the footnotes are back!} The prickly tail continued down to prickly fur that ended in a cat that looked frozen. A closer inspection revealed that the cat was staring crossed-eyed at a butterfly alight on its nose. Flor knelt, gave it a quick stroke, then watched it blink.
Congratulations! You have pet a cat!
You have met Tin. {Tin is a tin-colored cat. (Developer¡¯s note: Remember to replace the cat name and add descriptions before going to the alpha test).} {Developer¡¯s failed at that one.}{empty footnote no punctuation}{For beta readers, this spot is for sale! Buy now and have your cat immortalized in this book! Only $.99! (tax and service fees not included)}{I¡¯m not charging - if you want your cat immortalized, just let me know and I¡¯ll add it}{Developer¡¯s note: remove the comments about selling cats. We don¡¯t want bad press.}
Petting the cat had reset it, and it shook its head causing the butterfly to flutter away. Tin blinked in surprise, looked at Flor, and bounded after the butterfly.
¡°Well, there is another. Is that one you pet before, Galoots?¡±
¡°No, that¡¯s a new one, I think.¡±
¡°Well, one down, twenty-three left. Let¡¯s get to it.¡±
Chapter 20 – Incomplete, part 3 (of 3)
The search continued much like an Easter egg hunt. Around noon, Flor received a new notification.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Interface 3!
Alastair - Party: Yes! Well done, team! Did everyone get that or do we need to hunt down a few more?
Galoots - Party: I might need one or two more.
Sparks - Party: I¡¯m a bit shy.
Alastair - Party: Okay, so we¡¯ll pick up cat hunting after lunch? Let¡¯s meet in the kitchen. If anyone sees Maelstrom, we can now add her to the party.
Flor closed the party chat without seeing if anyone replied. What would they do after this? Alastair planned to storm into the Keep, and while Flor wanted to be done with this stupid game, she didn¡¯t think they were any better off than they were yesterday. Fortunately, the aches, be they phantom or real, had faded with the activity of cat hunting. Well, it didn¡¯t matter what the team wanted. She would push forward and get out of this game one way or another. Preferable tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. But soon. So soon. {The cats gathered at the Monastery, to this point, include Al, Zinc, Steel, Iron, Copper, Brass, Bronze, Mangum, Nickel, Lead, Titus, Tungs, Silver, Gold, Chrome, Barry, and Cadmium. Each of these cats came with the same five additional footnotes, but I¡¯ve removed them so that you, the reader, don¡¯t have to suffer.}
The group joined the lunch queue for more bread and beer. Flor said a silent thanks that she hadn¡¯t started here, otherwise she might find a way to gain weight in the real world from eating and drinking so many carbohydrates. As they gathered their food and drink, they went to a table. Flor sat as far away from Alastair as she could - there wasn¡¯t any reason to unnecessarily aggravate herself, and she still hoped that once they were out of this game her aversion to him would disappear entirely.
Alastair said, ¡°I guess you all wonder why I¡¯ve asked you here.¡± It wasn¡¯t endearing. But, Flor realized, maybe her time with Amets was helping, because she wasn¡¯t completely annoyed at him right now.
¡°Ha, that¡¯s great, Nova. Get to it,¡± said Maelstrom. Flor was still unconvinced that she should trust her.
Sparks and Galoots both smiled, and Flor felt fortunate they didn¡¯t look at her, lest they see the scowl on her face.
¡°So, I think we can get a couple more cats, then we need to work on maximizing our equipment layout. We¡¯re all partied up, but what else will we need to complete an assault on the keep?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
¡°Guns. Lots of guns,¡± said Galoots.
¡°Matrix quotes aside¡wait. Everyone here gets Matrix quotes, right? Well, anyway, Sparks, we should probably get you to level three. Then how do we most efficiently maximize our equipment? Mal, you¡¯ve been at it the longest? What are your thoughts?¡±
Flor glanced at Maelstrom, who seemed overly tired. She pulled her hands up, ¡°It¡¯s the dungeons. That¡¯s the way to make money. Well, using the loot to make items that sell.¡±
¡°How far up have you gone?¡±
¡°Solo? Part of the way through four. With a well-adjusted party, which this is not, we might be able to get through six, though. Probably not through seven. This means we¡¯re either back to the city or the keep. They are the only locations with a dungeon that deep. I think. I haven¡¯t explored them all.¡±
¡°Galoots, there is a dungeon here, right?¡±
Galoots looked up from her beer. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not much of a dungeon. But you enter combat mode when you engage the yeasts in the brewery.¡±
¡°Huh. So, you fight the beer?¡±
¡°Not really. It¡¯s just like a set of rooms that the yeast attacks, and they die pretty easily. There isn¡¯t loot, although I¡¯ve found a coin when I wandered through those rooms for a change of scenery.¡±
¡°We should probably test our multi-person combat dynamics, regardless. Then, I want an analysis. Is it better to split the party into two groups or stay the same size?¡±
Flor thought about it for a moment. That was a reasonable analysis question, although without good answers. She was saved by Sparks, though, who said, ¡°Based on what we¡¯ve seen, the loot drops increase the further you get. So the analysis is whether you get more from a deeper dive versus a split party. It¡¯s probably a mixed bag. I don¡¯t think we have enough data for a full analysis.¡± {Arithmetically, the benefit is to a deeper dive rather than a split party. There. I¡¯ve done the maths so you don¡¯t have to.}
Flor knew Alastair liked to be contrary, so she was surprised when he said, ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do a deep dive. We¡¯ll avoid deaths, so only go through level six. Can we repeat the run? I mean, what¡¯s the reset timer?¡±
Everyone looked around them, as if curious about the answer.
¡°So we don¡¯t know. I guess that¡¯s the next question. Do we drive at this thing until we exhaust the resources?¡±
Sparks said, ¡°What else is there for it?¡±
¡°Okay, let¡¯s go test run fighting some beer yeast.¡±
An amount of time had passed. The group had petted more cats, getting Sparks and Galoots to the level 3 Interface. Flor was disappointed that she hadn¡¯t found more, although she spent some time in her interface and now knew exactly how many cats remained in the Monastery. And in all the other locations. She saw a composite picture of things left to accomplish: the beasts left to slay; the dungeons left to explore; the items to allow her to access the endgame; the spaces for the gear that would make her fearsome; the things she needed to accomplish to change her title; the affinity of every NPC toward her. And a large number at the bottom middle, blood red, displaying how much she had accomplished. And a new feeling swept over her: incompleteness.
The number, almost pulsing, was well under 50 percent.
Surely Flor had suffered through this nightmare game long enough to be more toward complete than not. It was enough to make her frustrated, but not mad. And it was one more reason to get out of her as quickly as possible.
Chapter 21 – Of Passions and Blackmail, part 1 (of 3)
C+6
Your Rage has increased by +1
Alastair looked at his updated interface. On the surface, all the same information was there. But there was more of it. It was enough to satisfy any curiosity and, when drilled down, enough to make a data geek smile.
Alastair adamantly refused to be a data geek, though, but realized he would likely need to delve into these submenus and figure out optimizations to get to one hundred percent. Huh? When did that desire start?
It was odd that he considered a ¡®New Game Plus¡¯ might be worth exploring. If it weren¡¯t for the dude stuck there, he would have run headlong into the keep multiple times over until the game glitched and he escaped this stupid trapped game.
And now, with Interface 3 unlocked, that stupid number stared at him, showing just how much he had not yet done in this game. Despite his rage, he was furious.
The storm clouds were obvious as they approached the city. It almost appeared as if those clouds confined themselves to the city. Just one more frustration with this game. Every other person had an easier start, a more comfortable introduction, and a more defined path to figure out how to exit this escape room. He and Flor had been thrown into an uncomfortable situation, forced to repeat it time and again, and only survived by running into the wall headfirst. Their marriage was on the rocks. And now, despite all these misgivings, he was being asked to stick around in this awful situation to save someone else.
He would do it, but he would do it with a grudge.
The gates were open and the party strolled right through. ¡°Go charge up. We hit the carillon in fifteen minutes.¡±
Two hours later, five party members finished the first floor. Despite his frustration that everyone had taken so long to assemble, it was obvious that the multiple-person party was powerful against the first-floor automatons.
Motioning the party around him, he asked, ¡°Is there any reason not to just plow ahead?¡±
Flor raised her hand and he acknowledged her, ¡°Yes?¡±
She seemed a bit disgruntled, then hesitant, but then said, ¡°The reserve party doesn¡¯t benefit. There is no value in having five. You should limit the party to four, for now.¡±
Alastair looked at Flor, the woman he loved, the woman who had been so cold to him these last several days. Then he looked at the other party members. Galoots, who had always been addicted to the monastery, but possibly truly wanted to find and sell all the secrets available in a playtest before someone else could monetize it. Sparks, who seemed reverent to a made-up video game goddess, but generally competent if he could be dragged away. Maelstrom, who had once killed him without remorse, now looked as if she wanted to curl up and take a nap in her boots.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
¡°Uh oh,¡± he whispered.
Galoots looked up and said, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±
Alastair scrambled for an answer. ¡°I was thinking, it¡¯s just that¡¡± Think, man, ¡°Did you ever meet those players at the farms? The ones looking for their sister? They aren¡¯t here, but maybe they should be.¡±
The others around the table looked confused. Flor said, ¡°I haven¡¯t met them.¡±
Then Galoots said, ¡°Trots and Grumps {Galoots refuses to acknowledge them by their desired nicknames¡} are¡not¡not lovely. They seem like they want to escape something in reality, but they didn¡¯t get all they bargained for.¡±
¡°Did you know¡do you know where they are from? There is a girl in the lighthouse who seems like she¡¯s missing family,¡± said Flor. Alistair was happy to hear her speak up. And that she was bringing things together as she did so well.
Galoots answered, ¡°Something like Eastern Europe. They¡have an Eastern European demeanor about them. It¡¯s hard to tell, though, because of the game skins.¡± It was quiet on the steps as if no one knew what to say. Galoots looked sheepish. ¡°I¡I¡¯m not racist. I don¡¯t know how to classify them otherwise. How can we identify characteristics of a person without being lambasted for description?¡±
Alastair wanted to say something, anything, about the situation.
Sparks broke the silence, ¡°Do you have peace in your heart, Galoots? If so, then we can probably overlook the words that you spoke.¡± Sparks looked contemplative, ¡°I know, probably, as well as anyone here, that persecution exists.¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve experienced it. Personally. Terribly. And not something I¡¯d like to relive.¡±
Alastair realized that all eyes were on Sparks.
¡°I¡no. The¡ In the early twenty-first century, the Vietnamese government cracked down on social media and video games. But the intent, which might have been an inadvertent attempt to discourage laziness, spread to every aspect of life. Anything that sang of gamefaction or influence was targeted, unfairly, and even silly things like comparing grains of rice harvested became anathema. Life became¡unnecessarily¡strict. Could you imagine¡I¡¯m not sure any of you have children. Two little boys being punished for pretending to race against each other?
¡°People aren¡¯t evil. Systems are evil. Systems of belief that demand complicity.
¡°I haven¡¯t learned much in this game. I think I¡¯m unusually drawn to praise the goddess. Which is frustrating because I would kick Jesus off his throne. I would punch Shiva. I would slap Buddha for allowing this level of samsara. I am a pacifist who has been driven to dramatic action. And I regret that I feel these emotions in the game, but in life I try to survive, to exist, and it¡¯s impossible to¡to be me.
¡°So, no, I don¡¯t think those Eastern Europeans are lazy, or up to no good. They are probably very much like me. A nearly seventy-year-old woman who uses video games to experience a world that could be wonderful and bizarre. I crave peace. This game gives me none of that.¡±
The party sat, waiting, wondering if she would say more. The silence allowed them all to be introspective.
¡°That was not the motivational speech we needed,¡± said Maelstrom.
Sparks stood, spry, happy, and hopped over to Maelstrom, ¡°It was not a burden off my chest. We are a team, now, and we will all be individuals after. I will return to reality knowing that I helped those along the way, and maybe I will learn something to help more people when I return. What will you take away from this?¡±
¡°You believe in your story. But seriously, we¡¯re stuck here now. Pull your weight, and maybe I¡¯ll think your sob story has value.¡±
Alastair was still transfixed on something Sparks had said. Governments could still control people?
Flor and Alastair had lived in Europe for years. The US was a mess, but it at least allowed people to escape.
Had he ever understood what was going on there? Or was he just fortunate enough to have a spouse that allowed him to escape?
¡°I¡ don¡¯t want to be stuck in this game¡¡±
Flor said, ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re fighting here, man. Pay attention and maybe we can clear levels faster.¡±
Chapter 21 – Of Passions and Blackmail, part 2 (of 3)
Alastair realized he was in combat. He combined for a three-red connection and his avatar punched a rabbit straight in the face.
Flor said, ¡°Are you back?¡±
¡°Yeah, I think so. How did we get in combat?¡±
Maelstrom said, ¡°You wandered into its aggro range. Meaning the well-defined platform that counts as a landing and combat zone.¡±
¡°Oh! Did we resolve the issue about having five in the party?¡±
¡°Yes. Sparks took the loot and returned to the entry to craft items. Did you black out or something?¡±
¡°The last thing I remember was that we were listening to Sparks talk and then my mind went wandering and then I was fighting a rabbit.¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time he had blacked out in this game, and it was honestly a bit concerning. ¡°Does someone else mind taking the lead for a bit?¡±
Galoots went forward to the lead. ¡°I¡¯ll go. Do you need to head down and keep Sparks company or do you think you¡¯ll be alright?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be fine. Just, there is so much to think about.¡±
Flor was by his side a moment later. ¡°Has this happened any since we¡¯ve been apart?¡±
It took a large amount of self-control to answer without snark. ¡°Not that I recall. Not since in Mida¡¯s office.¡±
Galoots called out, ¡°Next combat in two steps. Everyone ready?¡± Then she proceeded to step on the platform without waiting for a response.
Alastair was drawn into the combat support role. Regardless, these second-floor rabbits were easy enough at their current level that the support wouldn¡¯t be necessary. Really, unless the rabbits were defensive, they were all destroyed with one hit. It probably wouldn¡¯t be until the fourth level that there was a need for the support roles, and even then¡well, they should be to the fifth level quickly, and then the decision was if they should take on the big boss. No one had done so yet, and they had speculated if it would follow the animal theme.
Galoots had noted that the foes were all of a typically animatronic mammal theme here, and each floor increasing in size. So maybe the big boss would be something like a bear or something unusually fearsome. It was nice to see the enemies¡¯ stats, which Alastair wondered if had something to do with the new interface. The pattern had been fairly apparent so far, up to this second floor, with the standard mouse enemies having one defense and one attack, but the floor one boss having double that. The standard floor two rabbits also had two and two, so the floor boss would likely have three and three or four and four. And then arguably the process would increase from there.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
They had also analyzed the arithmetic of how many coins they would come away with each run. While the coins dropped never remained consistent between runs, Maelstrom had pointed out a rough cap on each floor that she hadn¡¯t exceeded. Having braved level four as a solo in the past, she had pointed out that the amount didn¡¯t quite double each floor. They would get roughly fifty coins for each run, before the processing and selling of loot. The max gear loadout for each member cost around three hundred and fifty for a brawler and two hundred fifty coins for a scribe. Since Alastair was the only scribe in the party, they needed over sixteen hundred coins to outfit the party fully, assuming they started from scratch, which would be thirty-three runs before selling loot. They would also be able to trade in their current gear, and it seemed like Maelstrom already had some progress to a full level three gear loadout. Still, these runs weren¡¯t going fast.
¡°This will take us the better part of two days, won¡¯t it?¡±
Maelstrom said, ¡°Likely. At least, we won¡¯t be able to gear up fully today.¡±
Alastair continued, ¡°Why don¡¯t we limit the party to three members and rotate members out after each run to rest and focus on crafting? We can use the party chat to bring up a member as we get closer to the fourth floor.¡±
Galoots said, ¡°Are you rethinking about heading down to help Sparks now?¡±
He shook his head no. ¡°Maybe after this run, but not yet. What time should we abandon to sell off and buy gear?¡±
Maelstrom said, ¡°We¡¯ll need to let the dungeon reset between each run, anyway. It resets if uninhabited by a party at the top of an hour.¡±
¡°Which sounds like we¡¯ll need to head out after every run. The developers made strange calculations to figure out how much time would be necessary to get through this part.¡±
¡°They probably screwed up the programming that let people keep the coins they earn overnight when the program resets each day rather than progress.¡±
¡°There is no way that is intentional, right?¡±
¡°Doubtful, at least.¡±
Flor said, ¡°You done chatting over there? Can we at least plan how to get through the Keep?¡±
Alastair answered, ¡°All out assault. Just roll up and storm the place.¡±
The conversation paused as Galoots entered combat with the second-floor rabbit boss. On coming out, she said, ¡°I doubt it¡¯s that simple from what you said about it before.¡±
Maelstrom added, ¡°We¡¯ll probably need to leverage the privateers¡¯ party, and maybe the Lords from the city. I imagine there will be a brawl in the Main Hall, culminating with a fight of the necromancer.¡±
Flor said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure the necromancer is the level boss. She seemed¡I don¡¯t know¡calm? At least not overtly malicious.¡±
¡°Who do you think it is, then?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Just don¡¯t eat or drink anything offered up there. I think whoever is in charge poisoned me. Did you notice who else was in the dungeon when you¡rescued me?¡± She seemed hesitant to say that last part.
Alastair shook his head. ¡°No, you were the only one we saw, but it¡¯s possible there were more dungeons further back. Did you say the Lord necromancer is a she?¡±
¡°Yes, the Lady Oriol. And I think technically she isn¡¯t even a necromancer. She saved the King from death in a dungeon crawl, and people assumed she brought him back from the dead.¡±
¡°That¡¯s some misdirection. Well, if it wasn¡¯t the necromancer as the Keep¡¯s boss, then who?¡±
¡°Probably the Lord Chamberlain. At least, he has the look of a villain about him. Surely he could be running the show behind the curtains.¡±
Chapter 21 – Of Passions and Blackmail, part 3 (of 3)
The party ran the dungeon twice before they broke for dinner. The closest tavern to the carillion was the Onion, but they decided to all head to a weapons shop first to buy what equipment they could. With the one hundred and one coins from the two runs and thirty-two coins from selling crafting equipment, and agreeing that they would need coins for food and lodging, they decided to buy a weapon first. That would help future carillion runs go faster. So they upgraded Galoot¡¯s mace to a warhammer and then upgraded both Galoot¡¯s and Spark¡¯s shields from the buckler to the full. This left them with 30 coins left over, which would be more than enough for food but not enough for lodging for the full group.
¡°So, I think,¡± Alastair explained as they walked into the Onion, ¡°if we do one more quick run, we¡¯ll have enough coins to get reasonable lodging for the night. There is also at least one shop that stays open late. So we can swap out spare coins from the run for more crafting tools. Then we¡¯ll each split the loot and craft tonight. Then rinse and repeat tomorrow.¡±
Flor approached the bartender Nikolette and ordered five dinners with the non-mop water beer for the table. From where he saw, Alastair thought he saw Nikolette warning Flor about something, but Flor just waved it off.
Sparks was saying something, then said, ¡°Did any of you hear me?¡±
Galoots said, ¡°Yeah, you were complaining that it¡¯s stupid that we have to make so many conversions and clocktower runs to max out equipment. It¡¯s the same argument we¡¯ve all heard and made before. But there isn¡¯t much we can do about it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s stupid that we need another twenty runs to get the level-three equipment. If we stick around after to go to the Tower, we¡¯ll need level-four equipment, so even more runs on that stupid carillon. There has got to be a better way about this.¡±
Maelstrom said, ¡°There is a pendent of wealth, but it only increases wealth gain by twenty-five percent and would require five more runs on the clocktower for the blueprints alone, let alone the items for crafting it. To my knowledge, the pendant can¡¯t be bought, only crafted.¡±
Galoots said, ¡°How do you know so much about this stuff, Mal?¡±
Maelstrom leaned back and crossed her arms. ¡°I read a lot. Why, what¡¯s it worth to you?¡±
Galoots leaned forward, ¡°Just that I¡¯ve scoured all the sources and press releases on this game and haven¡¯t heard of that. Did you just come across it naturally in the course of your wandering, or was there some source I missed?¡±
Maelstrom scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, Galoots, that while you were drowning yourself in beer at the Monastery, I was exploring as much of this island as possible.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re in it for the prize money, then? Finish first and with the most bugs so you can take home the fifty-k purse?¡±
¡°Yeah, what of it? I¡¯d be silly not to.¡±
Alastair turned to Galoots. ¡°What is the fifty-k purse?¡±
¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know? The first player on each server that meets the exit criteria gets twenty-five thousand US dollarydoos. And the player who records the most glitches and bugs gets the same amount.¡±
¡°For playing an alpha test?¡±
¡°Yeah, it was in all the press releases canvasing for testers.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t read those sorts of things. I¡¯m not big into following gaming news.¡±
Sparks jumped in. ¡°Regardless, Mal, what other ways are there to get more cash fast?¡±
Maelstrom said, ¡°I haven¡¯t found another way.¡±
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Alastair said, ¡°What if we ask for it?¡±
They all turned to him and looked at him strangely.
Flor said, ¡°Who? Who would give us a thousand coins?¡±
¡°The Mayor. Or maybe his brother. Maybe not all of it, but maybe enough that we don¡¯t need to spend two more whole days running up and down the carillon. It¡¯s worth asking, at least, right?¡±
The rest of the party all asked questions at the same time. ¡°What if it fails? Should we rob the Mayor¡¯s Manor? Is there a bank we could rob? Should we ask tonight?¡±
Alastair held up his hand to get them to slow down. ¡°Our beer is here. Let¡¯s shelf the conversation for a moment.¡±
The serving boy put five mugs on the table and departed without looking at anyone. Galoots drank deeply. ¡°I¡¯m going to need another one or two of these.¡±
¡°How about, while you four do another clocktower run, I¡¯ll talk with the Mayor. Maybe he¡¯d be willing, or maybe not, but it¡¯s easy enough to ask. Then we¡¯ll follow through with the plan while considering other alternatives.¡±
The group grudgingly acquiesced.
Maelstrom said, ¡°I¡¯d like to go with you to the Manor. The Mayor¡owes me. And with the new gear, the team should be as strong to take down that silly Hectic Hippo. {The Carillon big boss with nine attack and nine defense. With three supporting characters and Maelstrom in the lead, they had been able to take it down in five rounds with minimal damage. They were probably strong enough to take down a sixth-floor boss. If there was one. There isn¡¯t.}
Alastair looked at the team. ¡°It¡¯s up to you if you¡¯re comfortable with that?¡± One by one they shrugged.
¡°As long as we get out of this stupid game all the faster,¡± said Flor.
¡°Hey, the party guy is back. Gonna ask the Lord Mayor where to find more cats?¡±
Alastair waved at the guards as they passed through the gate.
¡°What¡¯s that about?¡± Maelstrom asked.
Alastair continued walking as he answered. ¡°When I brought Galoots to complete the city, we snuck into the manor and down to the vault to solve the puzzle. On the way out, we ran into the Mayor as he was walking and we asked if he knew where any cats were as a means of distraction.¡± He thought for a moment. ¡°How did you beat the city?¡±
¡°Blackmail.¡±
¡°Blackmail? Care to explain?¡±
¡°I blackmailed the Mayor.¡±
¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯m willing to share.¡±
Silently, they continued down the tree-lined path and across the bridge. They past the barracks and walked into the manor itself.
¡°I still think the design for this building is inappropriate,¡± Maelstrom said.
¡°I¡¯ve thought the same thing.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to try to flatter me. I¡¯m already past the point where I¡¯ll kill you.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t¡ That wasn¡¯t¡ It¡¯s a silly building design that doesn¡¯t fit the theme. The whole disparate building thing in the game confuses me, in general.¡±
¡°Yeah, whatever. How about you let me do the talking in here, okay?¡±
¡°What, so you can blackmail more?¡±
¡°Yes, something like that. I have a certain influence that you likely do not.¡±
As they walked up the stairs and into the Manor, Alastair noticed her twirling a coin between her fingers. He said, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±
¡°One more thing for you to not worry about.¡±
¡°Fine. What¡¯s the best guess to find the Mayor, then?¡±
¡°Do you never shut up? Just follow me,¡± she said winding around a corridor.
The lack of people in the manor still confused Alastair. He thought to comment on it but stopped himself. Maelstrom had been a jerk in the past, but she seemed more so tonight, so he would stop trying.
She led them to a large wooden door, behind which was a well-filled-out library. Through the library was another door. Maelstrom went to kneel at the door and started to pick the lock, which Alastair knew would place her in a sudoku puzzle. The lock popped after a moment, meaning that it either wasn¡¯t challenging or that she was an expert in that sort of puzzle. She opened the door into what must have been a study.
Lord Mayor Oliver Francesc was leaning back in a chair being serviced by one of the servants. Alastair¡¯s eyes grew wide.
Maelstrom said, ¡°They¡¯ll let just anyone in here, won¡¯t they, Ollie?¡±
The servant looked surprised while the Lord Mayor looked surprised and yelled, ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed in here!¡± The servant looked at the Mayor, who covered himself up. ¡°Damn you! What now? Another writ? And you, Alastair! What are you doing here?¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d find out even more of your indiscretions, did you? We have another favor to ask of you.¡±
¡°Well, go on?¡±
¡°I need you to outfit our entire party with top-of-the-line gear. You decide if that¡¯s cash or gear from your lockers.¡±
¡°How much are we talking about?¡±
¡°A little over a thousand. Let¡¯s make it twelve hundred to be sure.¡±
¡°What!? No way. That¡¯s too much!¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure Beatrice here might disagree.¡±
The servant looked pleadingly at Oliver. He put his hand to his neck, then sighed. ¡°Fine. You can outfit yourself from the lockers, and I¡¯ll cover the cost with anything you can¡¯t find there.¡±
Maelstrom smiled a smile that didn¡¯t touch her eyes. ¡°Fantastic. Just have a letter written up for us in the morning by eight¡±
¡°Fine, fine. Just get out of her.¡±
Maelstrom leaned down to the Mayor and said, ¡°And we have another favor¡¡±
Chapter 22 - Fight in the Keep, part 1 (of 4)
C+7
Your Rage increased by 1.
Flor woke in a rage. The rest of the team would be arriving from across the land in a couple of hours, and at this point the thought of laying back down was frustrating. She was sure that this rage reduction with Amets was worthless, but she didn¡¯t even have a chance to do so today due to the stupid timeline Alastair and Maelstrom had provided. Maybe she could do it after they got the upgraded gear from the Mayor¡¯s Manor. Now, though, she felt like she wanted to hit something, and considered going on a solo run of the carillon. She figured she could probably clear floor four with barely a scratch. She considered stopping after floor three or if she ever had more than two points of lost health.
She checked her notifications and saw there was one in the box.
Fausta - World: For the notification of all players on Test Server 8, any player willing to remain in the game after clearing the Bacton Keep and progressing to a New Game+ will earn $500 (USD or equivalent) per game day (capped at $2500 per player or until the player starting in the tower is freed).
Huh! I guess there is a monetary price to free a player from the game. In her current mood, Flor wasn¡¯t certain she would accept the new game plus. Not that an extra couple thousand dollars wouldn¡¯t be appreciated, but she and Alastair didn¡¯t need it.
Flor also considered that there was a whole lot missing from that announcement, such as an apology for this miserable experience or any culpability for the way this playtest was run, to name a couple.
¡°Now I really want to hit something.¡±
Flor was riding in a hansom to the Keep. Sparks was next to her, seemingly asleep. They were both fully equipped with level three brawler gear, although Flor had decided to stay with the level two spiked gloves since they had an inherent first-strike capability that she was used to. {Which would allow her, in any combat situation, to deal damage first in the combat. So, say she and a Programmatic Power Porcupine Plumber were brawling, and both she and the porcupine had one health left, and they both selected an all-out attack, the first strike would allow Flor to hit first, killing the porcupine and not taking damage.} Sparks had a warhammer, which was one damage higher than the spiked gloves and gave a chance to stun, but it seemed like a one-in-twenty chance, so Flor didn¡¯t think the trade-off was worthwhile. They both had plated leather chest armor and a closed helm, for a whopping +12 to block, although Sparks also had a shield which gave her an extra +4 to block.
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Now that she considered it in depth, she wasn¡¯t so sure that the gloves were the better option. But it felt strange to think about reclassing her weapon on the morning before the final assault.
The Mayor had accommodated the party well, although he wasn¡¯t present to present the writ that allowed the team to raid the barrack¡¯s armory. They still had to use the additional line of credit at the armorer to get Alastair¡¯s Scribe cloak and Iron Staff from the weaponier.
Afterward, they had gone about getting the situation right for the raid. Irving and his two thug buddies, dressed in servants¡¯ clothes, walked at the back of the procession, which included the Lord Mayor, his wife, and his brother, plus an expanded complement of eight guards. The Mayor¡¯s Captain had quaffed at the request, thinking that it would screw up his watch rotation, but reassurance from the Mayor had been enough for the additional guards to come along. The Mayor glanced at Maelstrom before confirming the assurance, so maybe she did have some clout with him. Three of the guards rode in the closed wagon rather than on horseback. Alastair had said something about it being an element of surprise that might be beneficial, even at the cost of the seconds it would take to exit the wagon in hefty armor.
Lord Lazare Francesc rode easily on a horse next to the wagon. He had deemed it gentlemanly to offer the hansom to Flor but didn¡¯t get flustered when she asked if Sparks could ride along as well.
Alastair, decked out in Scribe Three gear, had left shortly after the gear upgrade with Sparks and Galoots to trek up to the bay and join the raid from the Privateers¡¯ side. As Alastair had described it last night, when they all met up again after a final trip up the carillon, this was to be a ¡°prosecution offensive, or total war. Just don¡¯t go Leroy Jenkins on us. And no war crimes.¡±
Ideally, there would be a much larger complement of sailors assaulting the keep. They would work their way from bottom to top, restraining everyone they could and killing the rest. The Procession would go two-pronged, with the guards hidden in the wagon assaulting those who would otherwise be expecting children for necromantic experiments. And then the Lord brothers and Lady Rosa with Flor and Sparks feign that they had been drugged to act as an extra surprise element. Technically, Alastair had argued to Lord Oliver, that it would be better if Lady Rosa didn¡¯t know and actually was drugged, as there seemed to be no lasting effects and Lady Rosa didn¡¯t seem to be a fighter. In a sense, she would be the cue the rest of them would use to act alike. Flor wasn¡¯t sure, but the Lord Mayor had not seemed offended, and maybe even cherished the idea of his Lady being drugged.
And thus they traveled, ready to assault the keep and die as needed, to purge the land of a horrible necromancer that was likely only a red herring for a secondary villain.
If nothing else, the anticipation was the worst part. Flor shut her eyes since she didn¡¯t know what else to do.
Chapter 22 - Fight in the Keep, part 2 (of 4)
Alastair, Maelstrom, Galoots, and the privateers climbed the mountain. Several of the privateers struggled. Even though they seemed spry aboard the ship, the climb wasn¡¯t the same type of fitness that translated to running around the deck.
The blind corner before the gate appeared, and once again the Sergeant sent in his two raiders to secure the route. They moved ahead and one came back a few minutes later. The entire team, minus those privateer stragglers, moved silently.
Captain S¨¦gol¨¨ne had been reluctant to bring so many extra sailors. But Maelstrom had assured him there would be minimal loss of life, and that even better, this assault would send the message that children were never to be used for such heinous purposes again. Alastair wondered if he could ever get Captain S¨¦gol¨¨ne¡¯s full story since the Captain seemed adamant that the horror of child necromancy should never again occur.
Rather than travel together, as they had the last time, the privateers and the sailors split into groups of three. Those coming behind would do likewise. Each group went through at two-minute intervals and was directed to stealth along and subdue anyone. Everyone.
Galoots had been a voice of reason and suggested they needed some way to identify friends and foes. So every person on the privateers¡¯ team, and hopefully in the Mayor¡¯s procession, had a green rag to pull, if necessary, as identification.
As he had traveled from West Shilgrave to the Monastery and then up to the Bay, Alastair had wondered aloud if this assault would be enough. Both Galoots and Maelstrom had suggested that it might be overkill, at least unless something went sideways. ¡°Better that than under-prepared, again.¡±
But wasn¡¯t that the way it always went? Their assault two days ago had left the team limping away. Now, they had a bigger team, better equipment, and a coordinated assault. Much as Alastair hated to admit it, he had become used to the feature on games to give total strength capabilities to each team. Wandering through Japanese Role Playing Games in his younger years had led him into zones he was utterly unprepared for - he had learned to save early and often. While it was unreasonable to expect to understand a potential enemy¡¯s power level, knowing if a battle would be easy, challenging, or unwinnable was nice.
In retrospect, two days ago, Alastair now knew it would have been unwinnable. Today, both Galoots and Mal thought they had the upper hand.
The ingress to the keep was uneventful. Informed that there might already be guards from the Mayor¡¯s house there, the Captain took part of his team to the dungeon to free what children he could. Instead, The players went toward the assembly hall, intending to head up to the Main Hall. The event should have started already, with Flor and her team faking being drugged soon enough.
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They rounded the stairs upward and looked in on the servants¡¯ quarters.
¡°Let¡¯s do a quick sweep to prevent being back-attacked,¡± said Alastair.
Galoots and Maelstrom both agreed and went into the area to observe.
They were heading back when Alastair heard a voice. ¡°Who are you? Players? Here? Nonsense. Let¡¯s get them!¡±
A moment later, Maelstrom was engaged. She had fortunately turned and thrust out her shield to prevent a back attack but was still fighting two assailants simultaneously. Galoots and Alastair ran to her side, joining the gem combat in support roles.
Alastair noted something unusual in the combat. Perhaps it had been there before, but a PvP tag hung on the top of the interface. We¡¯re in PvP!? These must be the ghost players Fausta mentioned. Why are they attacking us? Maelstrom, fully powered up with two supporting party members, struck hard at one of the players with her Great Sword. He defended, weakly, but took a hard hit. Alastair and Galoots helped by blocking the other other player¡¯s attack.
Time stood still while it seemed Maelstrom and her opponent considered their moves.
Alistair observed their names. Bacon, Brawler 3 and Eggs, Scribe 3. They swapped out their gems and Maelstrom did the same. Maelstrom took a blow from a hammer on her shield while elbowing Bacon in the face.
How much health do these guys have? If they are like us, they should both start with six. But their equipment is subpar to ours. So between that we should have the three on two advantage.
Maelstrom combined bones and block gems simultaneously, which allowed her to prepare for a powerful blow, although she¡¯d still need to select it on another turn. Bacon swung his hammer and hit her arm, despite her blocking gems. Fortunately, the full armor absorbed the blow, although it threw her off temporarily.
Alastair wasn¡¯t sure if she would use the powerful strike, but at this rate, the combat would take several minutes. Minutes they really didn¡¯t have.
Fortunately, their work together as a team over the past days in the carillon allowed them to support the attacker well. Both Alastair and Galoots anticipated and responded to Mal¡¯s attacks, blocks, and heals. It didn¡¯t seem that Eggs was invested in helping Bacon, although there was an occasional thumbs up.
Maelstrom used her sword to block a blow from the hammer and then selected the skull and crossbones. Bacon had used the turn to block, which ended up with both players standing there looking at each other for the turn. Then, using her power attack, Maelstrom chopped with the sword, bringing it down on Bacon¡¯s neck. Bacon was midswing of the hammer when the sword sunk deep into his neck. He fell to the ground, nearly decapitated, with a look of horror on his face.
Eggs swapped out with Bacon, taking the forefront as an attacker. Maelstrom prepared her attack when Eggs put up his hands in a defensive resignation of yielding. Mal let her attack cease, and the gem combat ended. Eggs said, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me. I¡¯m only in this combat because Bacon is an idiot. He¡¯s my brother and I need to attend to him.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lucky we¡¯re in a hurry. If I see either of you again, I¡¯ll kill you. And I¡¯m going to hope that a guard patrol stumbles upon you and kills you anyway.¡±
The trio continued to sweep the servant¡¯s quarters level and then prepared to head into the gala.
Chapter 22 - Fight in the Keep, part 3 (of 4)
Flor closed her eyes and slunk down in her chair, pretending to look drugged or asleep. Lady Rosa had slumped over the table. The rest of the team started doing likewise.
¡°Excellent work, team! You have all exceeded my expectations and I shall see that you are well rewarded. It seems as if sleep has overcome them all. Come along, let¡¯s survey and bind them to move them to the experiment room.¡±
Flor heard Maximin stand up next to her and wondered if it was he who had bound her and transported her to the dungeon previously.
There was scuffling around, and Flor wondered if that meant that Alastair had shown up. It was time, regardless, to act. Flor opened her eyes, looked around, and saw several guards and nobles chatting in the middle of the hall. They pointed at the drugged individuals. Even without Alastair and the others, it was time. Flor looked around her to ensure there wasn¡¯t anyone behind her, then stood and flexed her fists. Certainly, there was no way that Flor could take them alone.
One of the guards looked in her direction. Surprise came over his face, and he yelled, ¡°One of them woke up!¡± Others followed his hand as it pointed in her direction. ¡°Subdue her!¡±
Two guards moved toward her while pulling out their swords. This was not looking promising. Fortunately, Lord Oliver also stood. He proclaimed, ¡°Lord Meritxell, I charge you with treason against the crown and the Lord Necromancer.¡±
The Lord Chamberlain laughed. ¡°Of course you misunderstand, Oliver. Guards, to work!¡± The Chamberlain then walked up to the dais and sat on the Necromancer¡¯s throne to watch as the guards and minor nobles cleaned up the resistance.
The two guards still walked toward Flor, swords drawn, and started around the table from either side. Flor took advantage of them separating to charge forward and her interface flashed into the gem combat. Flor had an easy five-gem attack combination set up and used the guard¡¯s surprise to her advantage. Her fists flew out and she hit him with her right jab directly under his eye. She then jabbed him in his mouth with her left before a right jab to his cheek and an uppercut to his chin. Flor wasn¡¯t sure, but his eyes seemed to spin around like an old cartoon.
One turn until the enemy is reinforced.
Flor quickly considered staying in the combat or engaging separately. She decided she¡¯d be lucky to defeat this guard in one additional turn. Still, she pressed the attack, combining another four red gem combinations. She swung again, hoping to land at least one hit, and the guard seemed to try to block her strikes with his sword arm. Still, one of her strikes hit him again in the eye, and were this not a game she was convinced that he would have a black eye.
The enemy is reinforced.
The other guard appeared in the window, and Flor was glad he didn¡¯t attack her from the back.
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You have been reinforced.
A cartoon of Sparks showed up in her interface and gave the same goofy wave that Alastair¡¯s character had done so long ago.
With the reinforcement on both sides, Flor didn¡¯t think she needed to force the combat even if it might be worthwhile to be done with it sooner. Hopefully, Oliver and Francesc were holding their own. Irving and his thugs were hopefully occupying another one or two guards; even if they were just struck down, they¡¯d at least cause a delay to additional reinforcement. Alastair¡¯s team should already have been along. Unless they had died along the way. She almost felt a shred of concern for him, which she hadn¡¯t felt in ages.
The pressing matter was a visibly angry guard. Flor combined four blocking gems. Despite his facial bruising, the guard prepared to swing his sword at her. The second guard deferred to the first as Flor stepped into the swing and raised an arm, stopping the swing, before stepping back into a fighting stance.
With health still full, Flor again selected an all-out assault. The cartoon of Sparks flashed red as Flor flowed forward, punching the first guard in the nose again, then dancing out from under his clumsy block. She backfisted the cheek of the second guard. She looked down as a skull appeared over the first guard and he faded out of view. The second guard looked disgusted and sneered at Flor.
Both Flor and Sparks anticipated that the guard would attack, so Flor used the opportunity for a full five block and Sparks glowed blue. Sure enough, the guard rushed forward to impale her with his sword, but she hopped to the side and the attack fully missed. Flor made a block and attack combo, and the guard swung his sword up and thrust forward. The upward swing caught her arm but the thrust missed, and Flor smashed her arm into the guard¡¯s exposed armpit. Flor saw that the cut had taken only one health, but even one lost health jeopardized completing this game. She knew this combat needed to end fast but was thankful that no new reinforcements were en route. She hoped that meant all the other guards were occupied. Flor figured the guard still had three or four health and wanted to be done so she could figure out how the rest of the assault was going.
She saw a five-red gem combo. She guessed the guard would defend after his last couple of attacks. So she did likewise. There was a combo that could have restored her one health by swapping a blue gem for a green, but it would have adjusted the gems and removed the possibility for the five-red combo next turn. Cartoon Sparks glowed green and snapped. Sure enough, the guard stepped back and raised his sword defensively while Flor did the same, raising both fists to either side of her head. With Sparks¡¯ snap, Flor was back to full health. She hoped a full assault would end this combat. She combined the five red gems, Sparks glowed red, and Flor rushed forward, throwing punch after punch at the guard. He dropped the sword and fell to his knees, then, kneeling, a skull appeared over his head as he slumped forward and disappeared.
Combat complete. +1 to combat.
Attempt again? Yes/No?
Of course not. The combat interface disappeared and Flor blinked as the hall appeared back around her. She quickly looked at Sparks before looking around the room. Oliver and Francesc were still engaged in their combat. They were each fighting off a guard while a minor noble armed with a sword ran to reinforce the guard attacking Oliver. Flor glanced at the throne and saw that the Lord Chamberlain was still sitting in observation, flanked by two more minor nobles, but annoyed at the unpromising outcome.
Flor looked for Irving, but couldn¡¯t see him or his thugs. She noticed a separate guard wiping blood from his sword as he stood up. A moment passed and Alastair, Maelstrom, and Galoots appeared from the stairwell. Galoots rushed the guard, who seemed unaware of the new arrivals. Galoots landed a solid warhammer hit on the guard, who stumbled forward and fell over Irving or one of his thugs.
Chapter 22 – Fight in the Keep, part 4 (of 4)
Alastair was thankful that they weren¡¯t too late. Flor and Sparks looked safe, Oliver and Francesc both were engaged but seemed to have the upper hand. Irving and his buddies were slaughtered in front of them, but they would respawn in the morning, never the wiser of this brutal death. Galoots would likely have an easy time with the guard, so Alatair glanced at Maelstrom and said, ¡°The throne?¡±
Maelstrom nodded, then said, ¡°You take the left noble and I¡¯ll take the right?¡±
¡°Sure. Let¡¯s do this.¡± They approached the dais together. Flor and Sparks joined beside them. The two minor nobles looked at the approaching party, then to the Lord Chamberlain, then at each other, and then ran out of the room.
¡°So, this is the man who is stealing children, and doing unquestionable things to them,¡± Alastair said.
The Lord Chamberlain stood, ¡°You rabble know nothing. Leave here immediately.¡±
Alastair said, ¡°You certainly don¡¯t have the upper hand. Four against one, and we¡¯ll likely be joined by three more in a moment. You think you can escape?¡±
¡°Again, child, you know nothing. Leave and be spared.¡± He moved his hands in a manner that Alastair didn¡¯t understand. What seemed like a mass of energy formed between the hands, and what looked like a tiny tornado was developing from that mass.
Galoots whispered, ¡°Combat magic. I haven¡¯t seen this yet. Guys, I¡¯m almost willing to take the brunt of it just out of curiosity.¡± She ran forward, her warhammer ready, and the game interface flashed into combat. Meritxell pushed his hands forward and the whirlwind left and expanded, consumed Galoots, and thrust her out of the combat.
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Galoots has left the combat!
Damn, that¡¯s powerful! Maelstrom took the place in the front, while the Lord began to charge another whirlwind.
It seemed as if the combat slowed down. Alastair thought he saw Maelstrom whisper ¡°Sorry.¡± Then she did another something he hadn¡¯t seen. She started to glow, running through the colors of the rainbow and settling into a bright red that radiated from her. It reminded Alastair of DragonBall Z. The color flowed from her then into her sword, and she thrust forward and into the Lord Chamberlain. He faded from color to gray, then a skull appeared over his head and he collapsed on the ground and faded from gray to nothingness. The combat interface disappeared.
Combat complete! +1 to Combat!
Flor said, ¡°What! Was! That!?¡±
Maelstrom looked like she was about to throw up. She said on the steps of the dais, put her hands on her head, and was seriously green.
Alastair looked over to Oliver, who had finished his combat but clutched a wound in his side. Francesc was nowhere to be seen, so maybe he had exchanged killing blows with the guard he fought.
¡°Where is Galoots?¡±
The team looked around but didn¡¯t see her anywhere.
Alastair - Party: Galoots? Where are you? What happened after you whirlwinded?¡±
Alastair realized that they needed to help the team. ¡°Sparks, go check on Mal. Flor, can you go to Oliver? I¡¯ll check Irving and Francesc and look for Galoots.¡±
Both Sparks and Flor did as asked. Alastair, knowing the worst for Irving and the thugs, went to Francesc. He was still present, clutching at a jagged bleeding sword wound through his brow. ¡°Alastair.¡±
¡°Francesc. We killed the Lord Chamberlain. How can I make you more comfortable?¡±
Lord Francesc closed his eyes and tried to shake his head. His breathing grew shallow.
¡°I¡¯ll visit you in the morning when you are reborn, and I¡¯ll recount the rest of our adventure here tonight.¡± The Mayor¡¯s brother seemed to take this as an opportunity, and his breathing stopped completely.
Alastair stood, continuing to look for Galoots. Flor instructed Oliver to press his hands into the wound to slow the bleeding. Sparks was talking softly to Maelstrom. Galoots was still missing.
A realization overcame Alastair. We still have to find that table and finish this place.
Chapter 23 – Fight in the Keep, Reprise, part 1 (of 4)
C+7
Lord Oliver looked the worse for wear. Flor went to his side and helped him into a chair next to Lady Rosa.
Flor said, ¡°Will you be okay?¡±
Lord Oliver answered, ¡°The wound is bad but should not be fatal. Can you find something to bind it?¡±
Flor looked around and noticed that Lady Rosa¡¯s dress was ready and available but might be difficult to tear. Instead, she went to Irving and, with a bit of effort, pulled the tunic off the dead thug, which seemed clean despite a splatter of blood. It would work. She returned to the Lord and he took the tunic, folded it a couple of times then pressed it into his wound.
¡°I can¡¯t speak for binding, but keep it pressed here while we find the table and solve the Keep puzzle.¡±
Maelstrom remained on the dais, still green, with Sparks by her side. Flor approached them. Maelstrom looked up, then vomited on the floor.
¡°What happened?¡±
¡°I¡¯m spent.¡± Maelstrom laid down, avoiding her puke pile, and passed out.
Flor looked at Sparks. ¡°Did she say anything else?¡±
¡°She repeated that she was spent a few times. Nothing else.¡±
¡°Do you have any ideas on what happened?¡±
¡°Only wild guesses. But the more important part. Where is the control for the table?¡±
¡°If I had to guess, I¡¯d say probably a control on or near the throne,¡± said Flor.
¡°Let¡¯s go look, then.¡± Sparks stood and joined Flor. They approached the throne together. ¡°Maybe some switch or button or something? But the more pressing question is¡what do we do with the Lord Necromancer, here?¡±
Flor had overlooked Lady Oriol seated on the throne, slumped over as if drugged. Flor looked around the Great Hall and realized several others were in the same state. ¡°Oh, wow! How did we overlook her? Maybe we should try to wake her? It seems she got caught in something the Lord Chamberlain was doing, so maybe she¡¯ll help us out.¡±
Flor went to shake the sleeping necromancer, but Sparks caught her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s just let her sleep. If we can¡¯t find a solution, we¡¯ll wake her.¡±
¡°Well, then, back to buttons. It would be something that could be reached by both the Necromancer when seated, and maybe externally also.¡± The gilded chair wasn¡¯t overly ornate but had a few flourishes. Sparks checked one arm and Flor did the other. Then Flor looked from the necromancer¡¯s perspective. An inscription adorned the inside. ¡°Sparks, look at this.¡±
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Sparks looked, then said, ¡°It¡¯s trying to pull at my interface. I can resist, but it wants to pull me into a puzzle.¡±
¡°Are there any puzzles you struggle with?¡±
¡°Not really. Crosswords. But I think that¡¯s a translation thing, and there aren¡¯t any in the game. So maybe the Codewords, which are also kinda challenging.¡±
¡°Do we have any idea what type this might be?¡±
¡°Theories, but not really. Are you weak in any of the puzzles?¡±
¡°Slower on the Sudoku, but not by much. I think they¡¯re all somewhat easy.¡±
¡°You go ahead, then.¡±
Flor reached for the inscription. Her interface flashed. A scroll rolled out across it. A fifteen-by-fifteen grid aligned similarly to a crossword with numbers in each square, and a few squares also had letters. A countdown timer showed thirty minutes, already clicking down toward zero. So, a timed Codeword it is, then.
She started by identifying each of the squares with a known letter and transitioned those letters to the rest of the corresponding numbers. And then she made some assumptions. She looked for any overly obvious words before realizing a puzzle this challenging would require placing and replacing letters a few times. Fortunately, the game didn¡¯t immediately fault bad guesses, so she could assume that the most common missing letters would likely be E then A then R. Flor filled in a few words allowing her to guess a few more. The challenge came with ambiguity on a couple of possible letters which could make a couple of different words. That required additional guessing.
This is probably an expert-level Codeword. She felt anxiety at the timer counting down in the top right corner. She saw that she had been in the puzzle for almost twenty-five minutes already, which meant she had five minutes left. She placed the last character and then used the remaining time to double-check her work.
Nothing seemed obviously out of place. Arguably, the solution she had set worked. But if it had been correct, the puzzle would have closed out and the interface would have told her she had completed it. So something must be off, which infuriated her. Puzzles shouldn¡¯t have more than one solution if the multiple solutions aren¡¯t considered correct.
Flor started looking to ensure every word she had entered had been spelled correctly. Then she looked at the words that might have different English spellings. From previously playing through , she knew that most of those were the odd z for s or maybe i for an e, but those should be fairly obvious since they would change so many other words. {The histogram of letter frequency between languages isn¡¯t exact, but commonly used letters include e, s, and i. Therefore, one incorrectly spelled word would technically be correct based on the number in the square rather than the inherent spelling of the word.} Maybe there was a y for i, but that would also mess up all the other words with i in them.
Swapped spelling wasn¡¯t her issue, and the countdown timer clicked down to one. Think Flor, think! She worked systematically, top to bottom, left to right. And then she noticed something. Some of the numbers looked smudged as if they could be mistaken for either a one or an eleven. Flor quickly looked for any of those numbers, marking them in her head. If she changed them, swapping the s for a z in cases, all the words would make sense. She did so as fast as she could.
Puzzle Complete. +1 to Codewords.
Complete Puzzle again? yes/no?
Chapter 23 – Fight in the Keep, Reprise, part 2 (of 4)
She selected no and the Main Hall appeared back to her. The crew was chatting while gathered at the foot of the dais, with Maelstrom still sleeping next to a pile of her vomit.
Alastair seemed to notice that Flor had come out of the puzzle. ¡°Everything okay?¡±
¡°Yeah, just a challenging Codeword with a trick at the end.¡±
¡°What did you get from it?¡±
Flor looked at her interface, pulled up the Lore section, and reviewed what was there. She exited. ¡°I know how to access the table.¡± She walked around to the back of the throne and moved a switch. A mechanical motion began to lower the dais that she was on. Simultaneously, a table rose out of the center of the Main Hall.
¡°You think we could have just checked the back of the throne,¡± said Sparks.
Flor laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it would have worked, but maybe. So, who here is the best at solving the maps?¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty solid on them,¡± said Alastair. ¡°I¡¯d like to give it a go.¡±
¡°That¡¯s likely the least of your problems,¡± said a voice quietly from the stairs to the Lord¡¯s quarters. The quiet voice drew the looks from the three remaining party members. A small lady walked into the Main Hall, flanked by a cleric and a guard. ¡°You have defeated my patsy, and slowed my plans, and now it¡¯s time you pay for your disrespect, regardless of how aware you were that you showed such.¡±
The guard began walking forward. Alastair whispered, quietly, ¡°Rush them? Flor and me? Sparks, you go for the table. Even if we die, perhaps we can call this place solved.¡±
Flor immediately understood, and Sparks nodded assent. Sparks ran toward the table. Flor rushed forward and into combat with the guard, with Alastair behind her.
The combat interface showed up in front of her. Flor combined three red gems in a start-off attack. Despite her rush into combat, it appeared the guard was expecting the attack and dodged her jabs easily.
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The enemy has been reinforced.
You have been reinforced.
The cleric and lady joined the guard while Alastair joined Flor. Two on three was not ideal. It probably would have been better if Sparks had joined them rather than going to solve the table. But with Maelstrom passed out and Galoots missing in action, this might be the only way to complete the keep.
Flor considered her next move carefully. It had been some time since Flor had been in combat with multiple opponents. She was surprised that there was an option to select or change the target. Perhaps that was one of the cat interface updates. But, in this case, maybe it would be useful. Always take out the healer first. She switched targets until the cleric was the enemy designated for her attack, then put together an attack-defense combo. Her avatar flowed forward, under the cleric¡¯s dropping staff, and threw two quick punches into the cleric¡¯s midsection. Fortunately, the cleric seemed minimally armored.
Flor figured the Cleric might appreciate being at full health, and the best move she had to attack was a four-red gem combo. She selected the attack. Surely, the cleric glowed green and was unprepared to defend against Flor¡¯s flurry of blows. After the blows landed, Flor flowed back.
Something strange happened - the combat puzzle forced her to face the guard again. She wasn¡¯t able to change her target again, so perhaps the guard had employed some form of taunt ability to pull and keep her attention.
After a taunt, the guard would likely try a strong block or attack. With the unfair team odds, Flor cautiously decided to set up a strong defense. Both she and the guard looked at each other dumbly for the round.
If anything, spending time in the carillon had informed the team how to anticipate and prosecute these sorts of matchups, even if they weren¡¯t usually so challenging. So, she used the opportunity to block again, this time with a three-block to set up a more complicated attack next turn. The guard rushed forward and swung his warhammer hard overhead. Flor moved to the side and raised her arms to deflect the blow. The force of the swing overcame her defense, but her health only ticked down one. But she also noticed that she could change her target again. She returned to the cleric.
Her follow on five gem attack moved her into the cleric, who was again attempting to heal himself. Flor¡¯s five blows caught the cleric, and surely he¡¯d be down to one or two health after this, even with the constant focus on regaining health. She combined another four red gems. As she rushed forward, she saw the cleric seeming to jab her with his staff. However, her hands crashed into either side of the cleric¡¯s head.
Chapter 23 – Fight in the Keep, Reprise, part 3 (of 4)
First Strike!
The cleric crumbled, but Flor felt herself pulled back toward the guard, who now seemed enraged. Flor prepared herself for several straight attacks but only had a few block gems available. She swapped a blue gem for a green, which at least would heal her back up to full health.
The strong blow from the warhammer crushed Flor¡¯s back as she tried to dodge out of the way. Despite gaining health, the blow dropped her health bar. She also saw that she couldn¡¯t change targets. The guard must have a taunt lock.
Even bolstered by taking out the cleric, Flor didn¡¯t have a good way forward. Down a third of her health and against a much harder guard than the others she had faced, Flor needed to delay combat to allow Sparks time to finish the table. And although the Lady hadn¡¯t attacked yet, Flor was concerned that she might have a magic attack similar to the Lord Chamberlain¡¯s whirlwind. The team couldn¡¯t face another loss of a character.
Which was an interesting consideration. What had caused Maelstrom to suffer so completely yet so quickly defeat the Chamberlain? With a single strike!? Something on the interface must allow for a super strong surprise attack. Since there was nothing obvious, maybe there was something innocuous, such as the pulsing rage counter. Had it pulsed before? Had she even seen it before?
Flor wished she could speak with Sparks. Or even Maelstrom. Maybe even Alastair, since he was here. But maybe that rage button was what Maelstrom had used, but it ended up as a self-destruct button.
Caution and curiosity fought in her, over milliseconds, as she realized she needed to take action or be destroyed by a warhammer. Flor swapped a red for a green gem, healing herself to full health. The guard swung his warhammer again, connecting to Flor¡¯s shoulder and causing her to fall to the ground. The trade had been even to her health, but likely only with her upgraded armor.
Flor found an attack heal combo. As the guard swung back his hammer, Flor rushed forward and hit him strongly in each of his unprotected cheeks. The hammer swung past her but the guard¡¯s arm slammed into her nonetheless. They separated and it seemed as if the guard¡¯s rage had subsided, so Flor looked to see if she could swap him as a target for the lady.
The targets swapped, and Flor wanted to inflict as much damage as possible. She noticed the Lady doing something with her hands. Concerned it would be another party member removing attack or something similarly powerful, Flor shifted a red and a green gem for another attack heal combo. Flor, back at full health, at least for the turn, flowed forward with a one-two-three combo on the Lady, who despite appearances, wore thick leather body armor. Flor¡¯s attacks stuck hard but the lady didn¡¯t seem overly concerned.
Desiring to advance their odds, Flor wanted to remove this lady quickly. She figured the guard would pull her in a taunt after this next round, and wanted to minimize the effects of whatever magic was coming her way. She briefly considered the rage button but needed this fight to last as long as possible. Instead, Flor all-out attacked. Combining five red gems, she rushed forward at the Lady who glowed a bit purple. Jab, jab, cross, hook, uppercut. The first four blows connected, seeming to stun the lady, who wobbled out of the way of the final blow. Flor saw the lady¡¯s fingers snap, and something purple flowed from her hands into Flor.
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You are drained.
You are infected.
Well, I don¡¯t know what either of those means in this game context, but neither sounds promising.
The guard taunted her back into combat. He seemed to smile, while the look on Alastair¡¯s cartoon character¡¯s eyes seemed wide and frightened. The last attack took most of the red gems on the field, although a few new ones dropped. There were bone-colored runes on the field, but Flor didn¡¯t want to take a turn from active attack or defense. Still, she needed to clear out some of the board to get more red gems back to that attack again. She swapped a bone rune for healing, creating a massive twelve-gem combo.
Astounding combo!
You are drained.
You are infected.
Flor¡¯s glowed green from the healing, but the green drew out of her into a little floating green ball. Suddenly that green ball zipped from her and surrounded the Lady.
The guard¡¯s warhammer smashed down on her shoulder, bringing Flor to her knees.
Flor looked at her health bar, which ticked downwards. Instead of six of six, it now read three of three. Oh, no! Apparently, either drained or infected siphons away my healing, while the other prevents me from healing. This is not good. Flor wished she could tag Alastair in to take over for her. Fortunately, the board was filled with red attack and blue blocking gems, so Flor thought she could last a few more rounds. Her objective remained to give Sparks as much time as possible to complete the table. They had been in combat for around fifteen rounds. Unfortunately, that probably equated to three minutes outside of combat. Even at his fastest, it had taken Alastair five minutes to solve the city¡¯s map slider puzzle. Surely this keep puzzle would be more challenging than that, so even if Sparks were as fast as Alastair, she¡¯d still need minutes to solve it. But, would this lady and guard even be able to interact with a player in a puzzle?
Flor didn¡¯t want to consider that situation. Instead, she focused on a strong block and attack combo, hopefully drawing this combo out.
The rage button continued to blink at her.
Flor kept her arms up against warhammer strikes but still swung out at the guard who took the blows to the face without difficulty.
Maelstrom hadn¡¯t been thrown from combat after her rainbow effect. Even if I lose this combat, Sparks still might finish the puzzle. Or Maelstrom, if she recovers. Maybe it¡¯s time to hit that button. I only have one more health to spare.
Flor focused on blocking, just in case. It was getting more challenging again as the health gems built up. She didn¡¯t want to give the lady another health boost accidentally. Flor swapped a blue for a red gem giving her a five-defense position. The warhammer swung left then back again but Flor jumped back. She combined a weak attack with a strong defense and threw her fists at the guard, who had fully defended this round.
Since she hadn¡¯t attacked the lady recently, Flor changed her target. She combined five attack gems, careful again not to cause a healing combination. The lady, seemingly anticipating the attack, countered with a strong attack of her own. Flor danced forward, hitting the lady strongly five times in quick succession. As she backed out, the lady swung her staff across Flor¡¯s face. The already low health caused Flor to spin a bit, and perhaps her eyes had the horizontal equivalent of the spinning cartoon eyes from behind.
It¡¯s time! Flor anticipated the guard would taunt her again, but she switched to him as a target before he could. Make him waste his turn. She clicked the rage button¡
Chapter 23 – Fight in the Keep, Reprise, part 4 (of 4)
Use Rage? Yes/No?
(A Rage attack will use two energy per rage level to allow a critical strike equivalent to two times attack times modifier of unblockable damage to your opponent. You may not act on your next turn.)
Flor glanced at her rage level, which was already fairly low from all her time with Ametz, then at her energy, which was still surprisingly high. Flor selected Yes. She saw her arms pulse through a rainbow of colors. As if out of her control, Flor flowed forward, landing punch after punch on the guard, still preparing his taunt. The third punch took him to the ground. Flor observed this event as if she wasn¡¯t connected to her avatar yet continued punching. His helmet rolled off. She was certain there would have been a pool under his head if this had been a bloody game.
Flor was sucked back into her avatar, and the interface overtook her again. The guard didn¡¯t seem as if he could move, though Flor was appalled by the brutality that had just occurred. She thought she understood why Maelstrom would puke and pass out. The combat turn rolled over. Still, the guard didn¡¯t move, although since there wasn¡¯t the usual skull over him, he didn¡¯t seem dead. From the background, the lady looked annoyed and impatient.
Flor wanted to trade out with Alastair and have him finish this up. She looked down at his silly little cartoon and realized she missed him. Oh, goodness. Flor looked over and saw that the rage button was no longer pulsing, so that wasn¡¯t an option. But worst case, she¡¯d die for the day, Alastair would take over and also die, then this lady would stop Sparks, then an incapacitated Maelstrom. Then they would repeat this tomorrow, with better preparations and the ability to fight against such shenanigans. Perhaps Galoots would even survive and be around to help them out.
She looked through her combat gem board again, eager to find something. The board was unusually filled with healing green gems, which Flor had to avoid. Then she saw the skull and crossbones. Flor wondered how much it would disable her since the critical always took a turn to line up. The skull critical caused a delay before an attack, and the rage critical occurred after the attack. The lady didn¡¯t appear to have a magic attack queued up, so Flor checked if she could swap the target. She could. She switched targets and then selected the skull and crossbones.
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The lady looked surprised, then critical, and another purple glow formed in her hands.
Flor struck out brutally, fists flying and crashing into the face of the woman in front of her. She had been detached during the brutal attack on the guard, but she experienced and felt every blow land. The lady folded to a knee in the gut, and then Flor felt a crack as she landed an uppercut to the chin. The lady flew back a meter and landed askew. Similar to the guard, the lady didn¡¯t move.
Combat complete! +4 to Combat!
Complete combat again? Yes/No?
Alastair said, ¡°So, will you tell me about the rainbow glowing thing? But seriously. That was awesome!¡±
¡°Do you want to check on Sparks or Maelstrom?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll check on Sparks.¡±
¡°Sure. Hey, Alastair?¡±
He turned and Flor grabbed his robe, pulled him in close, and kissed him thoroughly. She was sure he was shocked, but then sunk into it.
After a moment, she relented. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m ready to be back with you, and I¡¯m really excited to get out of this game.¡±
Alastair seemed tongue-tied, but he nodded.
Flor walked over to Maelstrom, who seemed less green and breathing consistently. Flor asked, ¡°What caused you to pass out after that?¡±
Maelstrom didn¡¯t answer so Flor walked to the table where Sparks was stuck in the interface. She seemed to be concentrating hard.
Alastair reached over and took her hand. She squeezed it. Then he said, ¡°How fast are we going to exit this game?¡±
¡°Now that I know how to direct my rage, I might be willing to stay a few extra days, especially if we are going to get a few thousand dollars out of it.¡±
He squeezed her hand back. ¡°Okay. You say the word, and we¡¯ll exit, though.¡±
Sparks blinked and came out of the interface.
Congratulations! You have beat the Keep!
Congratulations! You have leveled up! You can select a class.
Congratulations! You have beat the alpha test of PuzzleLocked!
Chapter 24 – End Credits
C+7
Alastair considered the stylized words before him. They appeared in the air over the table after Sparks had finished the puzzle.
PuzzleLocked: Alpha Test
The words began to scroll up into the sky, replaced by new words.
Directed by: Chae-Won Hyeon-Ju Jae Sang
Lead Programmer: Devin Russell
Programming Team: Isha Cabrera, Delores Orr, Taylor Cisneros
Art Director: Paco Romero
Art Team: Saif Brewer, Austin Duncan, Daisie Dunn
Lead Writer: H¨¢kon T¨®masson
Writing Team: Stuart Barron, Mustafa Christian, Georgia Arroyo
Animation: Liliya Kovalchuk
Animation Team: Malaika Juarez, Vanessa Oconnor, Gladys Mitchell
Additional Development and Puzzle Design: George Lungu & Asad Roth
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Sound Design by: Self Detonation
Alistair looked over at Flor and Sparks. Both seemed transfixed by the scrolling text. So apparently he wasn¡¯t the only one seeing it. Still, he was excited for this challenge to be done but still confused as to where Galoots was. He glanced up at the rolling text¡
Holst¡¯s Solar Explorer
Studio Technical Director: Rabia Barnett
Studio Art Director: Fred Calderon
Studio Music Director: Leonard Heath
Operations Teams: Mica Weaver
Server Team: Brett Marchand
¡and then pulled up his interface and chat.
Galoots - Party: Hey, guys! The whirlwind brought me back to the monastery. I just saw the notification that we beat the Keep. Well done, team! Who is sticking around for that $500 a day to attack the Tower? I¡¯m in. There is an option in the interface now to start the new game+ next to the logout button.
Alastair - Party: Galoots! We¡¯re glad you¡¯re safe. Sparks finished the puzzle and now we¡¯re watching the end credits. It¡¯s a bit odd. Flor and I might be in for a few more days. Hopefully, we will be able to leave by choice after this.
Galoots - Party: Well, I say we all meet up at the Widow¡¯s Siege tavern after you¡¯re done up there. The beer here is fresher, but can¡¯t beat the luxury of that place.
Alastair - Galoots: We¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯re on our way.
Alastair looked up and saw the text was still scrolling.
Solar Cell
CEO: Verena Davis
COO: Dan Wambli
CTO: Abdullahi Villarreal
CFO: Elisa Harrington
Assistant: Khurshid
Thanks for playing!
Flor and Sparks looked at that text which then seemed to fade away. They turned and saw Alastair. He said, ¡°Galoots wants to meet us at Widow¡¯s Siege for a beer to discuss the New Game plus. Shall we?¡±
Epilogue - Decisions
14:28 GMT. Vilnius, Lithuania.
Solar Cell Chief of Operations Dan Wambli walked to the large glass double doors etched with ¡®Solar Cell | Verena Davis | CEO.¡¯ He pulled the right door open. Khurshid, the autonomous assistant, looked up to see who was disturbing its crossword puzzle.
¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. You can go in, but she¡¯s upset that she had to make time for you.¡±
Dan waved. He didn¡¯t like that virtual assistant, even though he had helped develop it. It was something in the personality that grated on him. Maybe the voice. He had always wanted Khurshid to have a different voice.
Verena spoke into a speakerphone as he walked in. Even though she spoke animatedly, he couldn¡¯t hear her. She probably had silencing technology that prevented the sound from going past her desk. He took a chair and waited.
After a few minutes of waiting, Dan looked at his watch. He understood that his time would be limited to fifteen minutes, and this phone call was eating into that.
Finally, after another few minutes passed, Verena waved away the call and looked at him. ¡°So, Dan, what¡¯s so important that I have to modify my schedule for the afternoon?¡±
¡°It¡¯s the Puzzle Locked playtest. We have a ¡®trapped in an isekai situation¡¯.¡±
¡°How many?¡±
¡°Nine.¡±
¡°Anyone important?¡±
¡°No one of consequence.¡±
¡°For how long?¡±
¡°The estimate is twelve to twenty-four hours.¡±
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
¡°What are the options?¡±
¡°Pause, reset, restart, give boons, play it out, augment the automatons, and finally, extract the players.¡± Dan hated the word ¡®extract.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t an extraction, it was an extermination.
Verena said, ¡°What¡¯s your call?¡±
¡°I¡¯m pushing the team to update the automatons, per the standard operating methods. I¡¯m opposed to extraction since the players, even though there are only nine of them. They are in pretty disparate locations. We don¡¯t have teams in all those locations and it would likely take too long to get teams there.¡± It was often a death sentence - the teams would forcibly remove the players from their VR headsets and haptics, and sometimes the players wouldn¡¯t survive the removal. It also cost a ton of money, and the Chief of Finance wouldn¡¯t go for it. Unless directed by Verena. And then he¡¯d still balk.
¡°International? Let¡¯s get those teams heading that way, anyway. Some of the board is still busting my balls over the bad press we had when we released the HSE freemium update. I can only imagine they¡¯ll flip if we accidentally kill some players.¡±
Dan considered her statement and then realized she had obtusely asked a question. ¡°Yes, international. Oddly enough, the most challenging extraction might be Laos since they banned video games and the elderly lady must be multihopping through a VPN.¡±
¡°She Laotian?¡±
¡°No, Vietnamese. Somewhat elderly, also.¡±
¡°Get over it. Alright. Ask Jeeves.¡±
¡°Jeeves, the attorney?¡±
¡°Yes. He needs to be aware of the situation. Tell Khurshid to schedule a meeting for you.¡±
¡°Is there anything else you recommend?¡±
¡°No, not yet. How long are you waiting?¡±
¡°The automatons should be installed in less than thirty minutes. Assuming they don¡¯t go murderbot, we¡¯ll give them a couple of hours.¡±
¡°Fine. I need to warn the board and spin up PR. Send in Khurshid. What else?¡±
¡°That¡¯s it. Wait. The other HSE servers are all updated.¡±
¡°Great. What else?¡±
¡°Um¡ nothing else for now.¡±
¡°Perfect. What else?¡±
Dan felt the awkwardness of the question. It was a distraction. ¡°I¡¯m going. I¡¯ll send updates through Khurshid.¡± He looked back as he left. Verena was already on the speakerphone again, if he guessed talking to one or another board member. After telling Khurshid to send for Jeeves, Dan considered how much he didn¡¯t like working for Verena. Maybe he had had that thought before. But maybe the situation in the PuzzleLocked test was a way to get the board to out her. Dan knew he wouldn¡¯t be up for Verena¡¯s position, but he could at least likely work better with someone else who cared about people.
Fin
Cat Book
- 00 Princess Dusty Butt (Persian)
- 01 Ellington (American Shorthair)
- 02 Finigan Chalupa (Turkish Angora)
- 03 Narcisse Madalitso (Balinese)
- 04 Ivonette Lillias (Devon Rex)
- 05 Unnamed (05 daughter of IL)
- 06 Dacian Sebastian (Ragamuffin)
- 07 Ratree (Korat)
- 08 Lady Eulalia Grier (British Shorthair)
- 09 Scruffs (American Shorthair)
- 10 Mohana (Bengal)
- 11 Sage (Egyptian Mau)
- 12 Mild Davis (Maine Coon)
- 13 Peanuts! (Birman)
- 14 Yevgeniya Nika (unknown)
- 15 Onuphrius (Sphynx)
- 16 Conner (Toyger)
- 17 Scribbles (York Chocolate)
- 18 Scrabbles (York Chocolate)
- 19 Nyx (Rass)
- 20 Thwuwak (Shorthair - indeterminate)
- 21 Monsieur (Chartreux)
- 22 Pedro (Cyprus)
- 23 sand kitten 01 (sand cat)
- 24 sand kitten 02 (sand cat)
- 25 sand kitten 03 (sand cat)
- 26 Sand cat (sand cat)
- 27 monument cat 1
- 28 monument cat 2
- 29 monument cat 3
- 30 cliff cat 1
- 31 cliff cat 2
- 32 Orchid (Barn cat 1 creamsicle)
- 33 Peony (Barn cat 2 sorbet)
- 34 Odysseus (Aegean)
- 35 Hotsauce (Manx)
- 36 Glitter (Chechil)
- 37 Thorn (Omlarcat)
- 38 Blaze (Danbo)
- 39 Bright (Cuajada)
- 40 Flash (Hellim)
- 41 Glow (Mish)
- 42 Luminous (Radmer)
- 43 Shiny (Cascaval)
- 44 Sunny (Basa)
- 45 Lambient (Mondseer)
- 46 Beacon (Brimsen)
- 47 Dawn (Chhurpi)
- 48 Lucent (Susu Masam)
- 49 Rad (Kalari)
- 50 Vivid (Bandel)
- 51 Glint (Tenili)
- 52 Torch (Akkawi)
- 53 Flare (Nguir)
- 54 Murks (Dark Bombay)
- 55 Glooms (Dark Bombay)
- 56 Shadows (Bombay)
- 57 Lurid (Bombay)
- 58 Inky (Bombay)
- 59 Bleak (Bombay)
- 60 Stygian (Bombay)
- 61 Null (DemonCat)
- 62 Shizuka (Japanese Bobtail)
- 63 Michi (Japanese Bobtail)
- 64 Hikaru (Japanese shorthair)
- 65 Maneki (Lucky)
- 66 Hibiki [aka Biscuit Maker] (unk)
- 67 Tora (American short tail)
- 68 Michiko (Persian)
- 69 Bakeneko (Yokai)
- 70 Nitama (Japanese Bobtail)
- 71 Yontama (Japanese Bobtail)
- 72 Hachi (Japanese Bobtail)
- 73 Tin (Unidentified)
- 74 Al (Unidentified)
- 75 Zinc (Unidentified)
- 76 Steel (Unidentified)
- 77 Iron (Unidentified)
- 78 Copper (Unidentified)
- 79 Brass (Unidentified)
- 80 Bronze (Unidentified)
- 81 Magnum (Unidentified)
- 82 Nickel (Unidentified)
- 83 Lead (Unidentified)
- 84 Titus (Unidentified)
- 85 Tungs (Unidentified)
- 86 Silver (Unidentified)
- 87 Gold (Unidentified)
- 88 Chrome (Unidentified)
- 89 Barry (Unidentified)
- 90 Cadmium (Unidentified)
Lore
World
Island
- Sheljour Isles
- Bay - Flowing Sands
- City - West Shilgrave
- Farms - Talking Trees
- Keep - Bacton
- Lighthouse - Spiny Shoals
- Monastery - Diederick
- Monument - Widow¡¯s Siege
- Tower - Inflection Point
Puzzles
People
- Rudolf - Prison Warden 4, =
- Horace - Prison Tavern mgr 4. =+
- Emma Ragna - Merchant 4. =
- Arnar Mattias - Farmer 3. =
- Andile - Guild Leader 3. =+
- Helena Lara, Assistant 3. =
- Klaos Norbae - Lieutenant (boats) 2. =
- Nikolette - Barkeep 3. =+
- Irving - Thug 1. =+
- Oliver Guillem Francesc - Lord 3. - - -
- Rosa Beatriu Meritxell-Francesc - Lady 3. =
- Sithembile - Scribe 8. =
- Olamida - Scribe 3. =
- Jacek, Keeper 5
- Jadzia, Scribe 3
- Jagna, Barkeep 3
- Jagoda, Clerk 3
- Ng?c Quy B?o ¡°Sparks¡± - Brawler 0
- Mihaela Ilie ¡°Riff¡±, Brawler-1
- Traian Toma ¡°Tapas¡±, Scribe-1
- Magdalena Livia ¡°Muffuletta¡± - Scribe-0
- S¨¦gol¨¨ne - Captain-3
Other
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.